Hunger Economics

In a country where billions and billions of pounds of food are wasted annually, getting nourishment into the hands of those who need it most is more than a worthy altruistic goal. For many businesses, it’s also an opportunity to boost the bottom line.

In 2011, the Food Marketing Institute, Grocery Manufacturers Association and the National Restaurant Association worked together to form the Food Waste Reduction Alliance. In its first study, the alliance determined Americans wasted 80 billion pounds of food per year, with 53 percent of that coming from commercial sources. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture data, nearly 50 million Americans, including 16 million children, are food insecure.

Ozarks Food Harvest is working to fight both problems at the same time. And business is booming.

Ozarks Food Harvest President and CEO Bart Brown said the local food bank, which serves 28 southwest Missouri counties, partners with roughly 200 area nonprofits to get food to people in need.

In fiscal 2014, which ended June 30, the organization broke a donation record when it secured more than 15 million pounds of food for distribution. That figure has roughly doubled since the organization opened its 50,000-square-foot warehouse in north Springfield in 2009.

In the past two years, donation increases have been largely driven by a $1 million grant Ozarks Food Harvest received from the Missouri Foundation for Health. The funding allowed the nonprofit to help organizations it serves buy refrigeration equipment for perishables.

“We are now in the third year of a three-year strategic plan, and one of the components of that plan was to double the amount of fresh produce we distribute,” Brown said. “We wanted to go from around 7 or 8 percent to a minimum of 15 percent, and we’re ahead of our goal.”

He said about 25 percent of the roughly 1.5 million pounds of food it accepts from vendors each month is now produce. That’s only possible, Brown said, because the organizations it serves, such as Springfield Victory Mission and Center City Christian Outreach, now have the capacity to store and distribute produce, as well as meat and dairy items.

That move allows such vendors as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Associated Wholesale Grocers Inc. and Hy-Vee Inc. to donate more, which reduces their waste and improves their bottom lines. Brown said 100 percent of the wholesale costs for vendors are tax deductible when they donate.

Brown estimates based on current donation and employment levels, Ozarks Food Harvest pumps $23 million in food and funds into the local economy annually. That figure includes $1.3 million in payroll for its 40 full-time employees.

At Kraft Foods in Springfield, the business of giving is routine.

According to Leah Bradford, associate director of community involvement for Kraft Food Groups Inc. (Nasdaq: KRFT), the company has donated food to the Feeding America network of food banks – which includes Ozarks Food Harvest – for over 30 years. Since October 2012, Bradford said the Northfield, Ill.-based manufacturer has donated more than 35 million pounds of food. The company counts providing fresh produce and reducing waste among its giving goals, she said.

Locally, Kraft has donated 2.13 million pounds of food to Ozarks Food Harvest since 2008. With an assessed value of $1.67 per pound, the value of its local donations during that period is $3.56 million, according to Springfield Kraft Plant Manager Todd Sherman.

“And recently, Kraft-Springfield presented a gift of $15,000 on behalf of Kraft Foods Group Foundation to expand OFH’s Weekend Backpack Program and provide an additional 12,240 meals to students in need at Springfield Public Schools,” Sherman said via email, adding that five years ago, Kraft made an in-kind donation of a semitrailer to the local food bank in support of its retail pickup program.

Radio disc jockeys Kevin Howard and Liz Delany just spent four days broadcasting under a tent in the Plaza Towers parking lot for the Sept. 5-8 Hungerthon fundraiser that airs on Alice 95.5 FM.

Howard said the radio station receives requests for help all the time, but it is important to both he and Delany to make the local food bank one of those nonprofits a focus of support.

“We do a little bit here and a little bit there, but we put most of our eggs into just a couple of baskets – and this is one of them – because feeding people is a pretty basic thing. We’ve felt from the beginning like this is one area where we could really make a difference,” Howard said.

In all, the fundraiser has generated more than $1.3 million for the food bank over its 16-year history. This year, it secured a record $132,000 in donations.

“Our first year, we raised like $16,000. Now, if we don’t get at least $125,000 we feel like failures,” Delany said, adding the event has many benefits. “I think it’s good PR. I think it’s great that we’ve attached ourselves to such a great organization.

“But the bigger part is the joy that Kevin and I get in knowing that in these four days where we are out here sweating or freezing – it feeds our soul. We feel really good about what we’re doing.”

Officials at donor organizations Associated Wholesale Grocers and Springfield Grocer Co. echo that sentiment.

“Culturally, it’s important to our organization, since we are a food-service distributor, to be able to support Ozarks Food Harvest with financial as well as food donations,” said Tommy Wohlgemuth, chief financial officer for Springfield Grocer Co.

Tommy Smith, vice president of merchandizing for Associated Wholesale Grocers’ Springfield division, said it’s not uncommon to donate half a truckload of food per week to Ozarks Food Harvest.

“We don’t want recognition. It is kind of an outlet for our mistakes,” Smith said, declining to disclose an estimate of the tax benefits AWG reaps.

At the end of the day, Brown said helping those in need with food that would otherwise be wasted and having the ability to improve their health, has many indirect and not-so-obvious economic benefits.

For example, healthier foods can decrease incidents of adult-onset diabetes in the poverty population, as well as improve attendance, performance and behavioral problems for school children. To that end, OFH offers the weekend backpack program, which the Hungerthon supports.

“We know that education is the key to combating generational poverty,” Brown said. “Anything you can do to support children in school is going to have a great return on investment.”