Helping Feed the Community

Sheila McQuaid, Project Director of 530 Food Rescue Coalition, picks up a food donation from Thomas Cuisine, Enloe’s food service management subcontractor. Pictured left to right are Phil Sydenstricker, Assistant Director of Thomas Cuisine’s Nutrition & Food Services, Christopher Buzarellos, Sous Chef, Jason Davis, Executive Sous Chef, Brandon Brooks, Sous Chef and Supervisor, McQuaid, and Ali Christensen, Director of Thomas Cuisine’s Nutrition & Food Services.

Every day, Thomas Cuisine, Enloe’s food service management subcontractor, prepares over 5,000 meals for either patients or retail. These meals not only feed Enloe’s patients, physicians and employees, but also community members through Meals on Wheels, Butte County Behavioral Health, Passages and the Peg Taylor Center. With a fluctuating census at the hospital, food excess becomes unpredictable and inevitable.

“Everybody on our team hates wasting food, not only because they’re producing the food and then they’re like, ‘OK, now my work is going in the garbage,’ but they also see the need. We all see the need in the county,” said Ali Christensen, Thomas Cuisine’s Director of Nutrition & Food Services at Enloe Medical Center.

Tech for a Good Cause

This summer Enloe, Thomas Cuisine and 530 Food Rescue Coalition began collaborating to donate high-quality surplus food to those in need, preventing it from ending up in the landfill and reducing greenhouse emissions. Thanks to an introduction from Enloe’s Clinic Director of Community Health, Andrew Miller, M.D., Christensen met Sheila McQuaid, Project Director for 530 Food Rescue Coalition, an initiative from Community Action Agency, the Center for Healthy Communities at California State University, Chico, and Butte County, to implement new state legislation SB1383, which requires certain food generators to show proof of donating surplus edible food by Jan. 1.

What makes 530 Food Rescue Coalition unique is the implementation of technology and volunteers. Often what prevents food service businesses from donating food is the lack of personnel and time to deliver it, McQuaid said. Participating businesses contact 530 Food Rescue dispatchers informing them of their surplus food, then 530 Food Rescue uses an app to notify volunteers to pick up and deliver the items to nonprofit organizations. These direct transfers of food are tracked by the app, enabling easy data collection for food donors to report.

“It’s an innovative way to keep food from going to waste and increasing food access for residents in Butte County,” McQuaid said. “It’s just so exciting to see it because we’re really getting food from the professional chefs in our community that know food safety. They know how to cook and, honestly, these donations are just so valued by our nonprofits.”

A Community Effort

Currently Enloe and Thomas Cuisine are donating “grab-and-go” food items, along with perishables, with hopes that, in the future, donations can include untouched trays. In the first two weeks participating in the program, 150 pounds of food were recovered — a feat that helps boost employee engagement and morale.

“It’s something that our staff had been asking for in the years past. They’ve asked, ‘Hey, what can we do? Why can’t we donate this?’ So they’re very much for it and engaged, too, which is awesome,” Christensen said. “It is really exciting that we are able to provide for our community before they ever step foot in the hospital.”

With this partnership, Enloe and Thomas Cuisine join 73 other businesses donating quality excess food to 50 nonprofits throughout the county with 530 Food Rescue’s network of over 300 volunteers. Last year, 530 Food Rescue was able to recover and distribute 94,000 pounds of food. This year, Enloe and Thomas Cuisine are excited to contribute to 530 Food Rescue’s goal of 200,000 pounds of recovered food.