Cooking brings us together to nourish one another. Recipes tell stories that connect us to places and people, and by sharing dishes, we share ourselves. Our kitchens use recovered, donated, and garden-grown food to prepare and cook made-from-scratch meals that nourish our community and create new stories around the table.
“I see my role as a Nashville Food Project volunteer as a critical piece of their offering to the community. The kitchen staff is an amazing team, and we volunteers enable them to serve even more meals to the community.”
Food Recovery
About 40% of food is wasted, yet 1 in 8 Nashville residents lack reliable access to nutritious food. Our food recovery program bridges this gap by rescuing fresh, high-quality excess food from grocers, farms, restaurants, and individuals to create nourishing meals for the community.
2024 Big Wins for Food Recovery
Our food recovery program reached unprecedented heights, not only reducing food waste but also achieving substantial environmental benefits. By rescuing food that would have gone to landfills, we prevented the release of 152 metric tons of CO₂ emissions, conserved 20 million gallons of water, and reduced methane emissions equivalent to taking 25 cars off the road for a year.
The addition of a donated electric van further underscored our commitment to sustainability while expanding our recovery and distribution capacity.
Community Meals
In our kitchens, recovered and donated foods become nourishing meals, crafted with care and fresh ingredients. With help from our dedicated volunteers, we prepare dishes like pastas, casseroles, and salads. These meals are then shared through more than 45 poverty disrupting, community-building organizations across Nashville, ensuring good food reaches those who need it most as part of a broader effort to address systemic challenges.
2024 Big Wins for Community Meals
Food connects us, nourishes us, and strengthens our community. In North Nashville, where access to fresh food is limited, The Nashville Food Project plays a vital role in the Heart of Nashville program to improve health outcomes. Through nutritious, heart-healthy meals and education, we’re addressing issues like uncontrolled hypertension while supporting wraparound care in partnership with NashvilleHealth and Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center.
What We Accomplished Together
80%
percentage of meals made from donated and recovered food
333,950
pounds of food recovered
333,950
96
unique farmers and grocers contributed to food recovery
amount of Community Meals cooked and shared