About Us
The objective of Project Redistribute is to improve the system by which leftover food waste is handled by local businesses.
Most of Madison's local pantries, shelters, and community centers primarily collect food from a few major grocery chains. The existing system is simple because it doesn't require a whole lot of transportation, scheduling, or inventory logistics to coordinate delivery between a small number of locations.
The downside of restricting food donation to large businesses, however, is that thousands of pounds of leftover food is thrown away each year. Food insecure families and individuals are directly impacted by this waste - they can't use it if it's not there. There are many individuals in our community who spend the majority of their days struggling just to get food on the table, when instead they could be spending valuable time on an education, improving job skills, or raising a family.
How is Project Redistribute contributing to the solution? Our platform allows any business in Dane County to submit leftover food quickly and easily through a member-based inventory system. Once the food order is submitted, our team will go to the local business, safely package the food according to ServSafe standards, and transport it to one of our member collection centers, where it will be immediately served to those who need it.
What are the benefits of such a solution?
1) The food insecure in Madison are fed more easily and more often. The food they are being served will also be more diverse and fresher due to reduced handling and transportation times.
2) Businesses can directly contribute to the fight against hunger in our community, claim tax deductions on donated food, and advertise themselves (supplies provided by us) as a part of Project Redistribute.
3) Food waste is saved from local landfills. Such waste makes up 15% of landfills, and as it decomposes it releases methane - one of the most harmful chemicals to our ozone layer.
Do businesses need to be worried about liability issues when they donate?
No. Due to the Good Samaritan Laws in Wisconsin (as well as nationally) businesses are completely released from liability when they donate leftover food, even if an individual were to become sick after consumption.
Who organizes and runs this project?
The University of Wisconsin-Madison's Enactus branch has designed and implemented this project. Our team of 12, a subset of the 44 general members, work full time on this project. You can learn more about our team here: madisonenactus.squarespace.com