Foodbank of Santa Barbara County: Food waste reduction program puts every morsel of food to use

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - When it comes to food, nothing goes to waste.

At least not at the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County.

From active composting to feeding animal farms, the local organization puts every morsel of food to good use.

“We rescue two million pounds of food per year. A lot of it goes out to the community. So, it’s part of our grocery rescue program,” said warehouse manager Jesus Lopez of the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County.

Lopez said a small percentage of that food isn’t fresh enough to donate to people. But even that doesn’t go to waste.

“There is a couple things we do with the old food. One of the main things is composting the old food. Another thing is we send it to pig farmers and horse farmers. They use it to feed the horses and the pigs," said Lopez.

The old food goes to various animal farms including The Horse Project in Santa Barbara.

“Money money money. Yeah. The price of hay has gone up. Everything has gone up. You know since COVID. And all the trucking problems. So, you know everything has gone up. It’s very expensive,” said volunteer Carol Newton of The Horse Project.

The nonprofit known for rescuing abandoned animals like Ruby Dooby Doo is grateful for the food donations from the foodbank.

“I seem to be currently the horse feeder from all of the food that got donated to three horses. And you can see that they rather enjoy it. Hahaha," said volunteer Lori Lindop of The Horse Project.

“I don’t believe in wasting anything. So, I’m delighted they don’t want to waste food. And you know they’ll eat anything. They’re perfectly happy to have vegetables and fruits and things,” said Newton.

As part of the waste reduction program, foodbank volunteers also harvest food from local orchards and gardens.

This is part of the organization’s popular Backyard Bounty Gleaning program.

The foodbank hopes all forms of food continue to be put to use.

“We make sure they have hay and their nutrients and everything else they need … but it wouldn’t be possible without having the foodbank," said Lindop.

“My hope is where there is no waste and everybody helps out all the way around … and keeps in mind that anything you can do to improve waste in our community is the biggest thing," said Lopez.

For more from Patricia, follow her on Twitter below: