During its annual Leadership Summit in Chicago earlier this month, the National Association of Realtors announced a new commitment to fight hunger, as NAR will ensure all future events and meetings are Food Recovery Verified. Food Recovery Verified is a Food Recovery Network program that recognizes food businesses and events for recovering surplus food and donating it to hunger-fighting non-profits. Working in partnership with FRN, a national non-profit committed to fighting food waste and hunger through food recovery, NAR has asked the 1,200 local and state Realtor associations around the country to “take the pledge” and join to help multiply the effort.
“Giving back to the community is the right thing to do, and I am proud that NAR members have a long history of helping their neighbors,” said Bob Goldberg, NAR CEO. “We hope this effort will inspire other associations, organizations, businesses and individuals to fight hunger in their local communities through food recovery.”
The NAR commitment will add to an effort by FRN and its affiliates, which has to date recovered 3.9 million pounds of food, equivalent to 3.2 million meals donated and 7.4 million pounds of CO2 emissions prevented since 2011.
NAR and FRN started their partnership earlier this year, when FRN staff designed and executed a food recovery plan for NAR’s Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo in Washington, D.C. On the final day of the event, two lunch events were unexpectedly canceled. However, thanks to the food recovery plan, 85 meals were donated to Charlie’s Place, a hunger-fighting non-profit in D.C.
“We look forward to partnering with NAR and the entire realtor family to make food recovery and donation a regular part of their events and meetings. We make it fast, easy and simple for organizations to recover and donate surplus food to people who need it the most,” said Regina Anderson, FRN Executive Director. “Our two organizations share the goal of making food recovery – not food waste – the standard at real estate industry events.”
NAR hotel and convention partners will collaborate on food recovery, and FRN will verify the effort at NAR’s largest annual event for real estate professionals, the 2019 REALTORS Conference & Expo, which will be held this year from November 8–11, 2019, in San Francisco. An estimated 20,000 people will attend the conference.Â
Food Recovery Network unites and empowers college student leaders in the fight against food waste and hunger in America. Since 2011, FRN students have recovered more than 3.9 million pounds of surplus food from their cafeterias and local restaurants. This food would have gone to waste, but because of their hard work, it is feeding hungry Americans. FRN has more than 200 college campus chapters in 44 states and the District of Columbia.
For more information about FRN, and to join our effort, visit foodrecoverynetwork.org.
