What drew Lynette Richards to Table to Table? “The fact that food can be on people’s plates that same day.” Lynette volunteered rescuing food in the late 1990s and served on T2T’s Board of Directors until she moved away from Iowa City in the early 2000s. “It was one of the hardest things to leave behind,” she says.
Lynette’s Honda Passport was her food rescue mobile: “I’d fill it up, I’d give away all the food, then I’d finish picking up more food. Sometimes I would come back with nearly a ton in total.”
A preschooler enjoys a full meal from that day’s T2T food deliveries.
“I would go to Eagles Grocery, Blooming Prairie, Bruegger’s Bagels, New Pioneer Food Co-op, sometimes Hy-Vee, and sometimes the University food service. We would drop food off at United Action for Youth, Domestic Violence Intervention Program, preschool programs, and homeless shelters,” she remembers. T2T didn’t have any refrigerated storage at the time, so, “We had to find a place to deliver what we collected that day. We couldn’t bring anything back.” To this day we only have the equivalent of six household refrigerators of cold storage because we aim to get the food out as quickly as possible.
“At T2T you get food from a variety of places, so when you put it together, you can make a healthy meal. It’s very usable,” Lynette continues. “You get excited when you get one food donation because it goes with something else you got, and it will make a nice meal for somebody.”
“This has given me a look into how much food is being rescued and how much the need is,” says Rajni Vijh, a current T2T volunteer. Rajni began volunteering in September 2020 on a food rescue route. “We got 3,000 pounds of food,” she remembers about her very first day. “I remember telling everybody, ‘This is my first time and we have saved so much food from being wasted.’ We were just packed to the brim!”
When an injury kept Rajni from food rescue on routes, she wanted to know other ways she could help. She’s taken on an array of roles. She prepares the fleet for routes and keeps a food-safe environment in the warehouse. She takes on data entry and office tasks.
In addition, she joined the software committee to help advise on procuring new software to track volunteers, donations, and route schedules. She adds, “All my life I’ve been in IT, so that’s close to my heart.”
Next she wants to learn more about gleaning in farm fields. “I’m a ‘whole picture’ person,” she says of helping in so many areas. So, she also recently joined the Board of Directors.
“In general, my nature is to help. This fits right into my mission: help where the need is,” she continues. “I’m really passionate about what I do here. I think everybody believes in the cause.”
Photo (above): Rajni did get in on a few gleans before the harvest season was over! She poses here with Nora, T2T gleaning coordinator, and their freshly-harvested squash at Trowel & Error Farm in Iowa City.
“My AmeriCorps experience helped me broaden my awareness of the multitude of resources present and those still needed in our community,” says Andrew Winkers, who served part of his AmeriCorps service term with T2T when his service in Iowa City Community Schools was interrupted by the pandemic. Andrew was the first AmeriCorps service member to join the T2T team in 2020 and opened the door to an invaluable resource. In the past three years, AmeriCorps members have supported food rescue operations, implemented a new software system, trained volunteers in safety and equity, expanded access to fresh, local produce, and more!
Andrew was impacted by “seeing how far reaching Table to Table’s food rescue activism connects and sustains the community by making resources available that would otherwise go to waste.” Andrew adds, “And the importance of seeking connections to build a community that cares.”
“There’s so many ways we work together that I truly don’t think we would function without this partnership,” says CommUnity [formerly The Crisis Center of Johnson County] Manager Krystal Kabela.
CommUnity provides groceries for 700-900 local households weekly. What does Table to Table’s partnership mean for CommUnity, in one word? Krystal and CommUnity Warehouse Coordinator Matt Himschoot respond in unison: “Food!” CommUnity is the biggest food distribution organization in Johnson County, and, “Table to Table provides a large amount of our fresh ready-to-eat meals, produce, and bread,” says Matt.
Half of the food CommUnity distributes in our county comes through T2T. “We wouldn’t operate on the same scale without Table to Table, nor as ‘cheaply,’” Krystal says. Food recovered from retail can be a huge resource for food pantries, but it takes a lot of logistics and resources to collect it each day, and then a different set of resources to distribute it to our neighbors. That’s why T2T was founded with partners like CommUnity in mind, and our partnerships are critical, so each organization can focus on what they do best.
Each year, CommUnity connects more than a million pounds of T2T’s rescued food to our neighbors. They do that through a combination of a groceryshopping-model food pantry, home delivery from their food bank, and a mobile pantry that hosts distribution events in 11 neighborhoods in Johnson County.
We continue to find ways to collaborate. After T2T added a 22-ft. truck to our food rescue fleet, T2T volunteers began to pick up CommUnity’s weekly food orders from the food reservoir in Hiawatha. “It’s not as easy to make that happen without T2T’s partnership,” says Krystal.
“T2T has come to CommUnity’s aid on more than one occasion. They were absolute lifesavers when the derecho hit and took out the power. Without their refrigerated truck, we would have lost thousands of pounds of food from our coolers and freezers,” Director of Development Julia Winter remembers.
Last year in preparation for CommUnity’s annual Project Holiday, which delivers holiday meals to 1,500 local families, arrangements for a large truck to pick up frozen meat fell through at the last minute. Matt called T2T, somewhat in a state of desperation. T2T staff said: “No problem; come get the truck.”
“Had that not been available to us, we would have been in trouble. Project Holiday may not have existed in the manner that it did,” Krystal says.
This summer, the food rescue work at T2T has outpaced our current vehicle resources, so CommUnity has shared their van with us so we don’t miss any opportunity.
As Julia concludes, “We are so grateful to share walls and a mission with T2T! Our neighboring spaces are mutually beneficial and ensure we’re able to get food to the people who need it most. Our partnership is closer than ever and we’re excited to see where the future takes us.”
Benny Hawkins, Sr., a former Table to Table food rescue route volunteer, passed away on August 31 at the age of 91.
Benny Hawkins, beloved T2T volunteer, rescued food on his weekly Wednesday route until the age of 89. Known for his warm conversations and genuine interest in the folks he met, we looked forward to seeing him every week and hearing stories from his decades of travel, sense of humor, and hugs.
Benny began volunteering on his weekly food rescue route in 2016. His longtime route partner, Bryan Clemons, remembers his friendship with Benny fondly:
“It was a pleasure to work with Benny when we were volunteers at T2T. Because we had known each other for years as dental colleagues, we had many things to talk about. We both had served as officers in the U.S. Air Force, and that gave us even more common ground.
I was usually the driver on our food rescue route, and it was easy to get so involved in our conversations that I could miss a turn. Fortunately, Benny was always gracious in redirecting me, and then we enjoyed a good chuckle.
Benny was a man who was kind to everyone he met. He had a great sense of humor and was quick to see the funny side of any situation and flash his wonderful smile. He had definite political opinions and was willing to discuss them if you asked, but he did not try to push his views on you.
Benny loved to have a good conversation with people of all ages while volunteering at T2T.
Several years ago, Iowa Public Television asked for permission to do a short documentary about the mission of Table to Table. They interviewed Emily [Meister, T2T Program Manager at the time], and she requested that a videographer go on a route to show what happened when food was being rescued. Benny and I were chosen as the team to record. We became ‘immediate IPTV stars,’ and Benny reveled in that ‘honor’ with a twinkle in his eye.
We were both sad to leave T2T when Covid-19 became a problem. However, we continued to see each other and share stories during the Wednesday morning retired dentists’ coffee hour after we had received our vaccinations.
Everyone who knew Benny was fortunate to have Benny call them a friend.”
Benny always joined T2T for MidWestOne Bank’s Rock the Chalk event.
Executive Director, Nicki Ross, remembers his kindness and welcome when she began in 2017. Shortly after starting she and the program manager were asked to present at a regional food recovery conference, the first big audience for either of them. Benny offered to be an audience of one in run-throughs of the presentation, keeping it light and offering kind and helpful feedback. “When we faced our big audience, it was Benny’s face I pictured. His support made me a better public speaker and presenter of the T2T mission,” Nicki remembers. “He also joined us for every MidwestOne Bank Rock the Chalk – getting down on the pavement to color in the designs or holding and entertaining my 5 month old while we worked. Benny was a gem and we will miss him dearly.”
“Benny epitomized the best of everything as a T2T volunteer and as a human being,” T2T volunteer Steve Gallagher adds. “I’m so glad I became acquainted, however briefly. He had a kind, gentle, warm aura and people loved him. The world lost a beautiful human being in him.”
In the archives
We found Benny’s volunteer spotlight from a few years back:
What’s one of your favorite memories from your time volunteering with Table to Table? Interesting people I have worked with.
Do you volunteer at other area organizations? If so, where? Formerly, Meals on Wheels for four years.
Benny enjoyed welcoming Mandela Fellows visiting Table to Table with Council for International Visitors to Iowa Cities in 2018.
What is/was your occupation? Dentist, Periodontist, Faculty Dental College.
What are your hobbies? I enjoy word puzzles.
What’s a fun fact you’d like to share about yourself? Lived in seven states, including England during my Air Force career.
Where are you from? Originally Chattanooga, Tennessee.
If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life what would it be? My oatmeal and fruit breakfast.
The Love Food, Fight Waste program is switching things up for our September topic! We brought you a free, in-person film screening (Sept. 2) of the movie, Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story, in partnership with Summer of the Arts.
Love Food, Fight Waste is keeping the film discussion going throughout the month of September!
If you missed the film screening, you can watch the full movie at the link below. Consider the below discussion questions as you watch the film.
Discussion Questions to Consider:
Littering is considered taboo. Why is wasting food generally acceptable?
Retailers often respond to consumer habits – for example, when they cull produce that has a unique shape or a small blemish, believing that consumers won’t buy “ugly” produce. What other habits and preferences do you recognize in yourself or consumers in general that determine how retailers operate? How can we make changes that will lead to less food waste?
Should organizations face consequences for unnecessary food waste? On the flip side, should organizations be paid an incentive for avoiding food waste? What effects do you think a policy like this would have?
The film points out that the last time the U.S. Government ran a large campaign against wasting food, it was during WWII. Food for thought: does our country have to be in crisis for society to think about resource utilization?
Were you surprised to learn that the majority of food waste takes place in homes? What takeaways did this movie provide in terms of changing your own habits?
Film Description
From Peg Leg Films, filmmakers and food lovers Jen and Grant dive into the issue of food waste from farm, through retail, all the way to the back of their own fridge. After catching a glimpse of the billions of dollars of good food that is tossed each year in North America, they pledge to quit grocery shopping and survive only on discarded food. What they find is truly shocking.
Table to Table staff discuss documentary “Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story”
A bell pepper seedling blooms on the screen as Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” begins to play. The camera follows one pepper as it forms on the plant, is picked, and is transported to a processing facility. It’s placed in a box with several other peppers, shipped to a grocery store, set on the produce shelf, and finally purchased by a lucky consumer.
After its months-long journey it is placed in that person’s refrigerator. We watch as the pepper turns yellow, then orange and red – then it loses its shape as it rots on the shelf, forgotten.
As we watch, every member of the Table to Table team groans or exclaims once it becomes clear no one is going to eat that beautiful pepper. For a team that spends all their working hours rescuing food from such a fate, it’s almost painful to watch.
In Just Eat It: A food waste story, filmmakers Jen and Grant decide that for six months, they will only eat food that was headed for the waste stream. They source this food by asking grocery stores if they can look through items that have been culled from shelves, or by going straight to the dumpsters behind stores to see what’s available. T2T staff gathered to preview the film together before we showed it on the big screen at our drive-in movie night. Here’s our take.
It is important to note that T2T rescues food before it reaches dumpsters. In the model we use, food donor partners set aside good food that otherwise would have been tossed for a variety of reasons unrelated to whether the food was still edible: there was an error in ordering and they have too much, containers are mislabeled, or it’s “ugly” produce or getting close to the “sell by” date and consumers aren’t likely to buy it. Table to Table volunteers collect this food from stores and deliver it to hunger relief partners within a few hours.
T2T volunteer Lauren delivers food she just rescued to CommUnity Food Bank.
At least one-third of all food produced worldwide isn’t eaten. Just Eat It is an attempt at answering the questions, “What impact does this have? Why does the world let so much food go to waste?”
Wasted food affects our climate. Once large amounts of food are compacted together in landfills and rotting, they produce methane. “Methane is a potent greenhouse gas MANY times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere – and the primary contributor to the formation of ground-level ozone,” Nora Garda, T2T Gleaning Coordinator, observes after watching the film.
Molly Suter, Local Foods Recovery Specialist, adds, “Through wasting food, we are directly contributing to the quickly changing climate of our own planet.”
Just Eat It Director and film subject Grant Baldwin is shocked to find a swimming pool sized dumpster filled with discarded hummus. Credit: Peg Leg Films–Scene from Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story
Resources that went into producing the food are also wasted. Several T2T staff were shocked to learn that throwing away one hamburger is equivalent in water usage to taking a 90 minute shower. “The water used to produce the total amount of food the world throws away can provide water for 500 million people,” Molly says, which then raises her question, “What other overlaps with social issues exist with food waste?”
“It’s an issue of environmental justice in terms of who has access to the food in the first place, AND people who need this water and this good food often don’t have access to it,” Lillian Poulsen, Food Access & Equity Training Specialist, notes. “In my role, I focus on access and equity in terms of education for our partners and the volunteers with whom they work. The issue of environmental justice is a key facet of what we do as an organization, and the amount of food wasted in our country, state, county, and community directly affects the lives of poor and marginalized communities where food insecurity is most prevalent.”
The documentary states that the majority of food waste comes from households, pointing out that generally individuals waste up to a quarter of what they buy from the store. The documentary demonstrates with a particularly effective illustration: “Imagine walking out of the grocery store with four bags loaded with food and you drop one in the parking lot on the way to your car…and you just leave it there.”
Consumers waste about 25% of the food they buy. Imagine having 4 bags of groceries, dropping one in the parking lot, and just leaving it there. Credit: Peg Leg Films–Scene from Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story
What contributes to this level of waste?
One issue pointed out by Nicki Ross, Executive Director, is “this idea that we determine what we will eat by first asking, ‘what do I feel like eating?’ She adds, “My family didn’t always have a lot growing up and one of the skills we developed is making a pretty good meal with whatever was left in the fridge or cupboard. ‘Do I really want that?’ is partially the product of a wealthy society.”
“It’s important to highlight how our culture views food in terms of abundance,” Lillian says. “The movie talked about how it’s seen as a failure in our culture when food runs out [at a party, for example], and wasting food isn’t taboo.”
“In the end I was disheartened to think about the waste that is created by me as a consumer and the way that stores order and stock food to appease the consumer, from rejecting perfectly good fruit because the shape is not ‘perfect’, to ordering way more than needed so that the shelves always look full,” Jared Long, Volunteer Coordinator, says.
Nicki adds, “It’s not uncommon for food sellers to have this opinion. They don’t want to ‘ruin their image’ by offering ‘ugly’ or discounted products. Interesting fact: Retailer standards far exceed that of the state for food safety/quality reasons.” Retailers who donate food are also protected under the Bill Emerson Food Donation Act.
“How can we change consumer/grocery store standards so grocery stores don’t only display ‘perfect-looking’ products and consumers don’t insist on only that?” Celia Eckermann, Bookkeeper, asks. The only item required by the FDA to include Best By dates for safety is infant formula. She continues, “How do we educate the public on the meaning of those dates and get manufacturers to adjust the wording so grocery stores and consumers don’t waste dated products?” (Learn more about how to decode Best By, Use By, and Sell By dates here.)
Fruits and vegetables are the most-wasted food group. What stood out from the film to Alyssa Schaeffer, Local Foods Access Specialist who coordinates free produce stands, was “how much food gets wasted at the beginning of the food system cycle. A lot of food gets left in the field, which is where T2T gleaning and free produce stands come into play.”
Samira (left), Community Resource Navigator at Coralville Public Library, and Alyssa are ready to welcome folks to a free produce stand at Coralville Community Food Pantry. With increased fresh produce from gleaning and garden recovery, T2T is organizing neighborhood free produce stands in partnership with local pantries and neighborhood centers, reducing barriers to fresh produce access.
In the film, a celery farmer is shown letting half the cut celery go to waste out in the field because it won’t fit in the bags it’s sold in and it isn’t economical to pay for labor costs to collect it. A situation like this is where T2T comes to the rescue, literally. We send teams of volunteers to local farmers’ fields to glean extra produce at no charge. Farmers don’t want their produce to be wasted; there is just no financial or time incentive to harvest everything they produce.
“I wish every community had a Table to Table,” Molly adds. “I wish everyone was more cognizant of the tremendous amount of food wasted and how it connects to other issues.”
T2T recovers over 2 million pounds of food each year in Johnson County and connects this abundance to the great need in our community. You can help! Learn more about volunteering, or make a donation. Are you a gardener? Bring your extra produce to our office and we’ll distribute it.
Missed our screening of “Just Eat It?” You can watch it here – then let us know what you think! Send your observations and questions to us at info@table2table.org.
“Which fruits do I keep in the refrigerator (fridge), and which ones on the counter? How can I make my bread last longer?”
Monthly Topic Overview
Oftentimes, we find ourselves peering into the depths of a fridge at a Tupperware long-forgotten on the bottom shelf and wondering, “what was that?” By checking your fridge daily and making sure produce isn’t kept in the coldest spots and leftovers are properly sealed and labeled, you can stop playing “what was that” and fully enjoy the meals you create.
How you store food matters. You can make your food last longer by storing it in optimal conditions and organizing your fridge and pantry. Another essential benefit is that correct food storage helps to prevent foodborne illnesses.
Reduce food waste with these tips:
Fruit and vegetables:
Apples, tomatoes, citrus fruits, and bananas should be kept separate from other produce to prevent speedy ripening.
Keep potatoes in the fridge, which can make them last up to 3 to 4 months
To prevent potato sprouting, keep potatoes and onions separate, and place an apple with potatoes.
Dairy:
Milk: Don’t place milk in your fridge door, as the frequent temperature fluctuation from opening the fridge can make the milk go bad faster.
Cheese: Store cheese in a colder area of your fridge in a breathable wrap, such as wax paper, which prevents molding.
Bread: Freeze bread that you will not use right away.
We can’t always eat food in time, so knowing when to freeze food can make your food last longer and reduce food waste.
Get to know your fridge:
Organize food to help you keep track of food that needs to be eaten soon. Use this “Eat Me First” sign to dedicate a section in your fridge for food that is about to go bad and needs to be eaten first.
Mark opened food containers and leftovers with a date of when it was opened or prepared to help keep track of how soon items need to be used up.
Be intentional and efficient when you open the fridge door, and make sure it is completely closed when you’re done perusing the fridge. This reduces how much cold air escapes, which means less energy demand to re-cool the fridge.
If you have milk in your fridge door, place it in the interior instead.
Wrap your block of cheese in wax paper and place it in a cold section of your fridge (toward the back). If you have any cheese close to expiring, freeze it! (It helps to shred it before freezing.)
If you have potatoes in the pantry, place them in the fridge to keep them fresh longer.
Place apples farther away from other fruits and vegetables to prevent speedier ripening.
Steve loads a crate of milk into the T2T van before a route.
We’re celebrating the first work anniversary of our Program Assistant, Steve Noack! Steve started at Table to Table on June 3, 2021, and hit the ground running. He quickly jumped in and was an invaluable member of our team before we knew it, bringing with him skills that we didn’t even know we would soon need.
Steve was attracted to T2T because he felt that food rescue is a great cause, because of the efficiency of our model (that’s engineer speak), and because he had been familiar with T2T for quite a while and admired our mission. “Rescuing food, reducing the waste of such a valuable resource, addressing food insecurity, and doing all of that with a relatively limited budget utilizing finite resources is really quite impressive and something that I wanted to be a part of,” he says (roughly paraphrased, with permission).
Occasionally you’ll find Steve making a surprise coffee delivery!
Steve’s title is Program Assistant (Official) and In House Iowa State Advocate (Unofficial). Steve has a degree in Engineering from ISU and an MBA from Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU). We’re not sure what all the criteria were that Steve used to select SVSU, but it does appear as though their mascot is a Cardinal, not all that different from ISU’s.
Outside of his engineering expertise, Steve has also volunteered or worked through the years at many area nonprofits, including Iowa City Free Lunch, Shelter House, and Successful Living. Steve has used these skills to not only help plan and launch food rescue routes, but we also utilized Steve’s experience in planning and designing our new space at Pepperwood Plaza.
We truly have been fortunate to find someone of Steve’s ilk to become a member of our team. If you haven’t had the chance yet, please take a moment to say hello and ask him about any number of topics, including but not limited to: the Cyclones, cars, tires (he surprisingly knows quite a bit), fire safety and safe egress, his new grandson, lava lamps, how crypto currency works, and lest we forget, the efficiency of route-based food rescue.
Introduction written by Jared Long, Volunteer Coordinator
This week, we are remembering longtime T2T route volunteer, former board member, and donor Al Stang. For years, Al did his Wednesday food rescue route in the 1998 Ford Econoline – our oldest van. You had to crawl into it to get the food all the way in the back. It was only about 6 months before he retired from T2T that he mentioned, “You know, maybe it’s time to retire this van – it’s hard on the knees (well, on my partner’s knees, I don’t get up in there anymore).”
Then, in the summer of 2020, we got a call from him asking how we were doing and how we were handling the loss of so many volunteers during the pandemic. He had heard that in the midst of it all that old van finally broke down. He and his wife Sharon supported the purchase of a new vehicle.
He supported T2T in so many ways: by spreading the word, as a board member, and as a route volunteer – he provided us with a whole collection of T2T rain jackets that still hang in our front hall and are worn by volunteers (and staff) regularly. He was thoughtful and full of ideas and someone you enjoyed spending time with and talking to.
A memorial service is planned for this Saturday, July 9, 2022 at 1:00 PM at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Iowa City.
Benny Hawkins, Sr., a former Table to Table food rescue route volunteer, passed away on August 31 at the age of 91.
This week, we are remembering longtime T2T route volunteer, former board member, and donor Al Stang. For years, Al did his Wednesday food rescue route in the 1998 Ford Econoline – our oldest van. You had to crawl into it to get the food all the way in the back. It was only about 6 months before he retired from T2T that he mentioned, “You know, maybe it’s time to retire this van – it’s hard on the knees (well, on my partner’s knees, I don’t get up in there anymore).” 
