Ashley Stanley started Lovin' Spoonfuls to match surplus food with hungry people (CS Monitor) [View all]

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Ashley Stanley started Lovin' Spoonfuls to match surplus food with hungry people

Lovin' Spoonfuls, a nonprofit food rescue group in Boston, strives to remove a glaring kink in the food chain and bridge the gap between waste and want.

By Noelle Swan, Staff writer / January 17, 2014

Ashley Stanley's jaw dropped the first time she walked into the back room of a supermarket. All around her, mountains of eggplants, potatoes, and onions littered the concrete floors.

None of the produce was spoiled, yet the staff told her that it had already taken its turn on the produce department shelves and would soon be tossed in the dumpster.

Without hesitating, she asked if she could have the produce. Then she loaded up her car and drove her bounty to the Pine Street Inn, one of Boston's largest homeless shelters, which serves 1,600 meals to homeless people every day.

That was in December 2009. Since then, Ms. Stanley has diverted 900,000 pounds of fresh food that otherwise would have been tossed out to Boston-area food pantries, homeless shelters, and domestic violence safe houses.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/2014/0117/Ashley-Stanley-started-Lovin-Spoonfuls-to-match-surplus-food-with-hungry-people