Lasting partnership: T2T and New Pioneer Food Co-op

In the 1990s, New Pioneer Food Co-op donated produce for soup directly to the Iowa City Free Lunch Program.

“The Co-op was made up of very community-minded people, very aware of community issues, so they worked to get leftover food to organizations that would get it to people who needed it,” Theresa Carbrey, former Education Director at New Pi and T2T founding member, says. When the idea for a centralized network of food recovery began to form in the mid-90s, Theresa and New Pi were immediately on board as one of our first donors and continue to this day.

“Because Table to Table exists, we don’t have to ‘figure it out’ – food transport, etc.,” explains Amy Hospodarsky, Brand Manager at New Pi. “Table to Table fills a gap that we don’t have to.”

New Pi commits to food recovery as part of their mission to serve the community with a sense of environmental and social responsibility. “We were founded with values that include being responsible stewards of the food we eat and the land we use,” says Amy. “Table to Table helps us reduce food waste and gives people access to natural food products.”

“Our mission marries up so closely with T2T,” Amy continues. “We do appreciate how important it is that T2T exists – we did then, we still do now.”