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Meal Recovery Coalition

AN INNOVATIVE Food System for New Jersey

WHAT IS MEAL RECOVERY?

Meal recovery is an innovative approach to addressing the significant issues of food insecurity and food waste.

Everyday, thousands of healthy meals prepared in corporate and other large cafeterias and food service programs are uneaten and sent to landfills, where they generate greenhouse gases and impact the environment.

Meal recovery programs collect the surplus meals from cafeterias and food service providers and deliver them directly to local families in need at their homes or through a network of community partners.

Meal recovery complements the efforts of traditional food resources such as food pantries and community kitchens, and substantially increases the amount and types of healthy food available to those who are hungry in our communities.

Introducing THE MEAL RECOVERY COALITION

The Meal Recovery Coalition (MRC) is a unique statewide partnership founded and led by Share My Meals that brings together cross-sector leaders with a shared goal: making meal recovery the norm in New Jersey. By strengthening infrastructure, aligning on standards, and advancing policy, the MRC is working to make sure every surplus meal reaches someone in need.

The MRC’s Goals are to:

Raise Awareness – Elevate the profile of meal recovery as a promising additional food source to boost supply for the food insecure.
Foster Collaboration – Encourage cooperation among private, nonprofit, and government stakeholders to extend the reach of meal recovery initiatives.
Build a Scalable Model – Develop a model for a sustainable food system that can be replicated nationwide.

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Ambitious GOALS in New JersEY

The Meal Recovery Coalition estimates that 5 million prepared meals from large cafeterias and event venues are sent to landfills in New Jersey each year.

In 2025, New Jersey food rescue organizations including Share My Meals, Table to Table and Food Recovery.org collectively recovered 1 million prepared meals. The ambition for 2026 is to reach 1.5 million meals recovered statewide.

Ultimately, the MRC strives to recover all 5 million surplus prepared meals annually, creating a reliable additional food stream that complements existing emergency food efforts.

Making meal recovery the norm in New Jersey will significantly expand the food resources available to address food insecurity while reducing unnecessary waste.

NEW JERSEY FOOD DONATION GUIDELINES

The New Jersey Food Donation Guidelines are the MRC’s flagship initiative to make food donation safer, easier, and more widely practiced across New Jersey. Developed with input from public health experts, nonprofit leaders, and food service professionals, these guidelines provide clear, practical steps for safely recovering surplus meals and ensuring they reach neighbors in need.

The work group includes representatives from the New Jersey Department of Health, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Rutgers University, Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic, Share My Meals, Food Bank of South Jersey, Community FoodBank of New Jersey, Table to Table, Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK), Sodexo, Compass Group, Flik Hospitality Group, Dartcor Food Services, Root Nine Baking Co., MEND, and others.

NJ Food Donation Guidelines

New Jersey Residents face hunger daily

Learn more ABOUT FOOD INSECURITY IN NJ

The Meal Recovery Coalition
MEMBERS AND PARTNERS

Meal recovery is complex. It requires food donors, volunteers, recipients, and nonprofits to all work together daily to cooperate and make this supply chain operate. The MRC is bringing together a broad coalition of stakeholders, including public and private entities, to take meal recovery statewide and make significant progress in addressing food insecurity in New Jersey.

Meal Recovery Coalition Members

These MRC members are investing in the New Jersey communities where they operate, supporting their neighbors and reducing their environmental footprint.

Partners and Sponsors

These partners share our vision of a resilient, sustainable food ecosystem in New Jersey and play a key role in making meal recovery the norm.

Public Sector

Policymakers, government officials, and regulatory agencies focused on addressing food insecurity and positively impacting on the environment are working to make meal recovery the norm. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority has been a founding sponsor of the Meal Recovery Coalition as an innovative, cost effective, and environmentally friendly approach to combating food insecurity.

Meal Recovery is making an Impact

The Meal Recovery Coalition is tracking its impact by recording the number of meals provided to the hungry and the amount of food waste pollution averted.

Meal Recovery Coalition Impact

774,405

Number of meals served

1,764 MT

Metric tons of CO₂ eq emissions averted

929,406 lbs

Equivalent pounds of food recovered

SCALING MEAL RECOVERY STATEWIDE

To recover the estimated 5 million surplus prepared meals wasted in New Jersey each year, the MRC is growing its coalition of corporate, nonprofit, academic, and public partners while building sustainable funding pathways, advancing smart policy, and creating practical tools that make meal recovery easier and safer to implement.
By forging strategic partnerships and elevating awareness statewide and nationally, the Coalition is turning collaboration into lasting systems change.

GET INVOLVED

This business-driven, statewide meal recovery initiative has the potential to bring meaningful change to the citizens of New Jersey—and the rest of the nation.

MEDIA

Global Life Sciences Company Bayer Joins the Meal Recovery Coalition

Patch Online – February 16, 2026