TC Food Justice

Help Us Reduce Hunger and Food Waste in the Twin Cities by Donating Today!

TC Food Justice is a volunteer-driven nonprofit working to reduce hunger and food waste in the Twin Cities. We partner with local grocery stores, markets, bakeries, farmers and others to "rescue" unsold fresh foods and redistribute them to individuals and families in need. 

Given the rising cost of food today, fresh produce is not affordable for many.  In recent years,  the hunger divide has grown: Black, Hispanic, Asian and Indigenous families in Minnesota are at least twice as likely as White families to live with hunger, with new evidence suggesting that this divide has grown to nearly four times the rate for Black Minnesotans since 2021.  TCFJ is committed to improving health equity through increased access to nutrient-rich food, especially for food insecure families.  

We continue to receive new requests from individuals, families and organizations seeking food assistance.  We have been asked to expand our services to first-ring suburbs of the metro area, but can only respond to those requests with your help.  In order to grow, we need to implement new volunteer and food rescue software, build our volunteer management programs to recruit more volunteers and build relationships with both food donors and food recipients.  Your donation will support TCFJ as we provide healthy food to more people! 

Some highlights of our work include:

• 10,000 - 15,000+ pounds of food rescued and redistributed every month, with over 625,000 pounds of food rescued in the past several years;
• Dozens of partner sites receiving food including local food shelves, community kitchens, church meal programs and low-income housing sites;
• Volunteer-run, grassroots effort with a successful track record;
• Pedal-powered food rescues and deliveries done by bike whenever possible reducing our carbon footprint;
• All programs offered FREE OF COST to both our food donor partners and food recipients!

More about TCFJ:

Our Progams:

The Food Rescue Program is our largest and longest-running program. We are proud to specialize in working with smaller grocers and hunger relief organizations that have often been excluded from traditional, larger-scale food rescue programs. 

Our small, part-time staff coordinates all necessary logistics including scheduling weekly food rescues and deliveries, and recruiting and coordinating volunteers to collect, sort and deliver the food to community partners. We deliver all food within 24 hours, maximizing its quality and likelihood of being consumed. And all of this is done free of cost to our partners. 

We've launched innovative new programs to help increase access to fresh foods in non-traditional settings such as clinics, public housing and low-income housing sites. We directly stock community fridges several times each week at low-income housing sites through our Full Fridge Initiative, making sure residents have access to high quality fresh foods right at home. We also lead education sessions in schools, neighborhoods and community forums helping to share information about food waste and hunger with tips on how to make a difference. 

Please support our work with a gift today. 

Your gift will help us:  

• Support our new programs bringing food directly to those in need.
• Implement new donor management and food rescue software. 
• Increase the number of recipient partners we can serve throughout the Metro area. We currently have a waiting list of organizations hoping to receive food!
• Grow the number of pedal-powered food rescues we do by helping us purchase and maintain more bike trailers.
• Share our knowledge and ideas through increased outreach, education and special events in the community. 

Thank you for your support! We couldn't do our work without you!!

Until No More Food Is Wasted,
TCFJ Staff and Board Members
www.tcfoodjustice.org