FAQs
That’s us! We rebranded to Spoonfuls in step with our Strategic Plan.
Spoonfuls is headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts (just outside of Boston) with food recovery from in Greater Boston and Southeastern Massachusetts, MetroWest, Worcester County, and Hampden County and distribution to over 250 food programs in more than 100 cities and towns.
The beauty of Spoonfuls’ model is that it’s scalable – and one of the goals of our Strategic Plan is intentional expansion to communities that could benefit from increased food recovery. Before expanding, our team connects with regional stakeholders (like other food assistance organizations, funders, and more) to explore whether there is an unmet need for fresh healthy food, food available to be recovered, and funding to sustain our work in an area.
Put another way, it isn’t simply “we go where the need is,” because there’s need everywhere. We look to where we can be most useful both right now and on an ongoing basis.
So what’s next? In fall of 2026, we’re slated to launch a second route in Southeastern Massachusetts, focused on Plymouth County.
Learn more about the food retailers and brands we work with to source food and the community-based food programs that receive Spoonfuls’ deliveries.
No, not usually. Primarily, we partner with food retailers like grocery stores, wholesalers, farms, cafeterias, stadiums or other large venues that regularly have a significant amount of food to donate. This ensures efficiency and consistency of Spoonfuls’ food recovery program. Restaurants and catering companies tend to order very near the amount of food they think they can use up (which is a good thing); this means there’s little for us to recover. If, however, you work for a commercial kitchen (like in a hospital, university, or corporate cafeteria) that regularly sees more than 100 pounds of good, recoverable food getting composted or tossed, we encourage you to reach out to us. If we can’t partner with you ourselves to offer a food recovery solution, we may be able to point you to an organization that can.
And what about what’s left over on people’s plates when they haven’t finished their meals? Where does all that go? That’s considered “plate waste,” and – as a matter of food safety and dignity – it’s not something we can recover or distribute.
Our model is built on partnerships with food retailers and brands and consistent pick-ups along planned routes. This ensures we’re reliably recovering food to meet the needs of the food programs that receive our deliveries.
However, pending availability in our schedule, our team occasionally arranges off-schedule pick-ups. We prioritize those that: involve more sizable donations, meet our food safety guidelines, and for which we have identified organizations in our network to make use of whatever food is donated.
By way of a couple of examples: We got involved when a manufacturing defect (a little less soy sauce than a brand’s recipe called for) made it so thousands of frozen dumplings were no longer sellable but still good to eat. And, more than once, we’ve stepped in to recover food when a grocery store’s freezers went down.
Our advice: If you have good, recoverable food you’d like to donate to Spoonfuls, reach out to our team to discuss.
Of course. A partnership with Feeding America or a member food bank does not preclude you from working with us, too! In fact, we have our own partnerships with all three of the Feeding America member food banks in Massachusetts as a trusted food recovery provider. We have a mutual interest in ensuring good food reaches people who need it now. Plus, just like food banks, we’re accustomed to working with our partners to satisfy data collection and reporting requirements.
Start here. You’ll complete our Inquiry Form, and our Programs team will be in touch with next steps, which usually involve learning a bit more about your community and your program’s needs and set-up. If we can’t factor you into an existing route (say, because the schedule is full or we’d need to source additional food before we could bring you on board) we’ll add you to our waitlist. How long it takes to receive regular deliveries depends on a number of factors, but we encourage you not to let the existence of a waitlist be a deterrent!
We onboard partners not on a strict “first come, first served” basis, but as new sources of food become available and slots in our schedule open up. And we’re sometimes able to offer waitlisted organizations off-schedule deliveries — like when we make a special pick-up or our team intercepts more food than usual.
We do. Invite us to speak to your class, community group, or company.
Check out our Media Kit. Then reach out to our Communications team via our Contact Form or by phone at 617-390-4450.
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Spoonfuls is 100% philanthropically funded. Your donations are the reason we’re able to do what we do. Every $1 we raise enables our team to pick up and distribute one pound of food – and 87% of every $1 you give goes directly to support program operations.
Plus, as a Candid Platinum and Charity Navigator 4-star nonprofit (the highest ratings available by each), you can feel confident knowing your dollars are put to good use here.
Check out our Donate page and, if you don’t find the information you’re looking for, reach out to our Development team via our Contact Form or by phone at 617-390-4450.
Absolutely! Learn about getting your business involved. And, feel free to reach out to our Development team via our Contact Form or by phone at 617-390-4450.
Spoonfuls doesn’t use volunteers to do the day-to-day work of food recovery. (A hallmark of our model is the use of professional staff, who are trained in food handling and safety and who develop strong, working relationships with the food retail and community partners in the region where they work.) However, at points throughout the year, we do look for volunteers to assist with our events – especially our Ultimate Tailgate celebration, which is our biggest fundraiser of the year, held each fall. And we invite participation by corporate and community groups in project-based opportunities. If you’re interested in volunteering, please reach out to our Development team via our Contact Form or by phone at 617-390-4450.
If you’re a food retailer (someone who represents a grocery store, wholesaler, farm, farmers’ market, school/hospital/corporate cafeteria, or a stadium or other large venue) interested in donating excess or unsold food, reach out to our Programs team, via our Donor Inquiry Form or by calling 617-390-4450, to discuss. Note that we don’t accept food donations from individuals or families. If you’re an individual or family looking to support us, we recommend making a gift, starting a fundraiser, or getting involved with our advocacy work.
Spoonfuls takes food safety as seriously as you do. With a ServSafe-certified food recovery team and a fleet of refrigerated vehicles for transporting food at the proper temperature, our team is committed to ensuring the food we deliver is safe for consumption.
In addition, there are federal and state laws (The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act and The Massachusetts Good Samaritan Act, respectively) protecting good faith food donors from liability related to food donations. Learn more about federal protections from the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic’s Legal Fact Sheet. With specific questions, contact your attorney.
Advocacy is about working collaboratively with community members, business leaders, funders, elected officials, and others to build awareness of and support for policy and other longer term solutions to issues like wasted food, food insecurity, and the climate emergency. Check out our Advocacy & Action page to learn more and get involved.
It’s intercepting food when it’s still good to eat and working to ensure that it doesn’t go to waste. In Spoonfuls’ case, we partner primarily with food retailers (like grocery stores, wholesalers, farms, and farmers’ markets) to source unsold perishable food, picking up and delivering that food within the same day to community-based organizations that serve people facing food insecurity.
Yes, and the terms are often used interchangeably.
For a few reasons: First, fresh foods (like fruits and veggies, dairy, and meat) are some of the most expensive and out-of-reach for neighbors facing food insecurity. Plus, with food banks offering more shelf-stable products, community organizations benefit from Spoonfuls as a source of fresh food to round out their offerings to end-recipients. What else? As an organization committed to reducing waste, Spoonfuls focuses on fresh, perishable food because it’s among the most often wasted! In fact, 80% of wasted food in landfills is perishable food – and much of it, had it been recovered while it was still good to eat, could have fed people instead.
Importantly, this doesn’t mean we don’t recover other kinds of food, just that we take special care to recover as much fresh, wholesome food as possible.
In both the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals,the 2024 White House Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste, and our own state’s Commercial Food Materials Disposal Ban, food recovery is cited as an important tool we have to keep good food from going to waste while, at the same time, tackling hunger and the climate emergency and benefiting the local economy by keeping the value in food. Learn more on our Impact page.