By Amanda Lenaghan, Director of Social Impact, Cruise
Read more: https://getcruise.com/cruiseforgood/
Food insecurity and food waste are connected, worsening –– and impacting the planet
Over 30 million people in the US and ten times as many globally are facing food insecurity. At the same time, food waste in the U.S. is worsening — there were 91 million tons of surplus food in 2021 — contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. In other words, our hunger crisis sits at the intersection of a major sustainability crisis.
Three years ago, Cruise began dedicating a portion of our all-electric, driverless fleet to deliver meals to San Francisco residents in need. Now, as our driverless service expands to new cities across the country, so too will our work to fight food insecurity, and now food waste –– together with Replate.
I’m proud to share that Cruise for Good is teaming up with food rescue platform Replate to tackle these competing challenges head on, through something that’s never been done before: a first-of-its kind, driverless, all-electric food rescue initiative that we aim to scale nationally.
Bringing a sustainable cycle of food rescue to communities nationwide
Replate is a nonprofit that blends innovation and impact, implementing a food recovery model to mitigate food waste in cities across the country. By connecting organizations that have surplus food to communities facing hunger, Replate helps to increase food access, reduce waste, decrease carbon emissions, and save water.
Our all-electric fleet will integrate with Replate’s existing national network of food recovery partnerships –– picking up extra food from local businesses and name brand restaurants and delivering to local organizations in need –– creating a sustainable cycle of food rescue to fight hunger and waste in the communities we serve.
We’ll start our partnership in San Francisco, and quickly scale our operations as Cruise enters new cities, in line with our pledge to dedicate a portion of our fleet to meet community needs everywhere we drive.
Food insecurity and the unequal impacts of climate change are massive challenges that no one effort can solve. But through this partnership, we aim to support Replate’s capacity to serve communities across the country, and explore how new solutions can address complex problems.
The value of collaborative partnership
The most innovative, authentic and effective social impact programs are forged with organizations who know their communities best. In our experience, nonprofits like Replate, San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, and SF New Deal have the expertise to best understand how we can support our neighbors in need — and push us to truly think outside the box in terms of how we generate impact.
When we started Cruise for Good three years ago we began by delivering meals to home-bound individuals experiencing food insecurity in partnership with San Francisco-Marin Food Bank and SF New Deal. While we're proud of the 2.4 million meals and 105 tons of CO2 emissions we've offset since that time, we’re eager to expand our commitment to serve communities, everywhere we go. This partnership with Replate is that next step. As Replate CEO and Founder, Maen Mahfoud, puts it, our collective goal is to “make a big impact with an even smaller footprint.”
