FoodSteam Network (FSN) advocates for a system in which food from your restaurant "Supplier" that is prepared but not served can go to local community organizations "Agency" i.e: fridges, shelters, food pantries, etc. instead of the trash. Suppliers donations will be covered from liability by the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act as long as safe food handling is used (e.g. refrigeration) by the Supplier and Agency Food Safety & Nutrition.

FoodStream Network does not store, transport, examine, or maintain any liability for any food-related issues. On request FSN will aim to introduce food suppliers and agencies to organizations who can handle all coordination, volunteer insurance and vetting to ensure that all parties can execute the plan properly and safely. Additionally they may also help provide post-event reports, upon request outlining food lbs donated, meals served and carbon footprint offset and Charitable Contribution Tax Receipts.

We hope the following guidelines will help suppliers find and work with recipients of food donations:

Include Contract Clause: When writing out a catering contract, this is a clause that is recommended to add. By including this language, it insures that the restaurant, catering staff/venue "Supplier" representatives are all aware of this partnership in food donation.

““Please be advised that [ORGANIZATION NAME] would like to donate surplus food, or purposefully prepared but not served meals, from [YOUR RESTAURANT / VENUE NAME] to [AGENCY NAME]. "

Identify Food Recipient (Agency): FoodStream Portal is a membership only network of vetted organizations in New York City. If you are a supplier of food (restaurant or venue), and match with local recipients (Agency), then connect to them to confirm they accept perishable food donations, and if they are interested, agree with them on the menu options, date(s) to receive the donations and pick/up delivery logistics.

Note: If no organization is currently listed in the area in which you seek to donate food, please reach out to our [email protected]. We will gladly help to locate an agency that fits the criteria of your food donation, as well as connect you to the person from the agency with whom you will work.

Identify Contacts: Best practices show that two on-site contacts, one from "Agency" and one from the "Supplier" donating the food is optimal. Share the points of contact. Open communication is very important in making things run smoothly. If anything deviates from the plan i.e time, or amount available, then please let your contact know so they can plan accordingly.

Schedule Pickup: Determine approximately how much food and when the pickup(s) / deliveries will be available including any specific instructions for the drivers such as where exactly they need to deliver the food.

Note – Aluminum Pans: To be ready for pickup day, the "Supplier" donating the food should provide and purchase, if necessary, adequate packaging containers for the meals such as aluminum trays with lids, or individual containers for single portions. If possible, source packaging that is not made of polystyrene; biodegradable is preferred.

Post Pickup: We advise "Suppliers" to use our donation form as it will give FoodStream the information needed to generate a consolidated impact report for our members as well as your own organization. Once completed FSN will send the report to the email provided and will show you the total poundage donated, the meals generated, and the levels of CO2e diverted from the air by avoiding the landfill.

Charitable Contribution Tax Receipts: We advise "Suppliers" to use a Tax Receipt form that will generate a tax deductible invoice for the monetary value of your donation. For more information scoot over to our Tax Receipt info page or contact [email protected] who will help facilitate a tax deductible invoice between the "Supplier" and the recipient "Agency". The invoice will show the monetary value of the total amount donated.

Extra Credit: We encourage our members to socially share the pounds of food donated, people served and greenhouse emissions saved via IG, Twitter and Facebook to your community. Don't forget to mention @foodstream_network and the hashtag #foodnetworkers so we can highlight your impact and re-share to the wider FSN community!

Congratulations! It’s that easy to redirect surplus food from your organization to those in need of a meal, as well as helping reduce landfill. Happy Food Networking!