How We Help
(2 Steps)
Step 1: Rescue
We rescue hundreds of pounds of plant-based foods from local grocery stores that are deemed “unsellable”. Because many of these unsellable foods are still considered safe-to-eat, we do our best to make sure they don’t end up in a landfill.
So which foods do we rescue exactly?
Rescuable Food
Overstock Inventory
Most grocery stores operate under the assumption that customers are more likely to buy produce if it's from a fully stocked display. This assumption leads to overstocking, as well as damage to items on the bottom of perfectly constructed food pyramids.
Ugly Produce
Customers have been trained to expect perfectly shaped produce without any blemishes or bruises present, so retailers stock their produce according to that expectation — even if the shape, size, and color have nothing to do with quality.
Misleading “Sell-By” Dates
Sell-by dates are guidelines for sellers to indicate peak freshness, which means most foods are still good long after the sell-by date. But because fearing consumers will not buy these foods, most grocery stores pull the items out of stock several days before the sell-by date, and consider them “expired”.
Damaged Goods
Often, product packaging gets damaged during shipping, leading supermarkets to toss products even though the food hasn't been compromised. The stores assume, perhaps rightly, that no consumer is going to buy a dented box of cereal if a pristine one is right next to it.
Step 2: Share
Once these plant-based foods have been recovered, we share them to communities suffering from food insecurity.
We do not require any paperwork or identification. Everyone is welcome to receive groceries, regardless of age, documentation, employment, housing status, ethnicity, gender, and/or religious beliefs.
No questions asked.
We are currently only servicing the Coconut Grove community.
Why Coconut Grove? This is our home base, where roughly 18% of its residents are currently living below the poverty line. This equates to about 4,800 residents according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau release. As Vidara Foods continues to grow in support, more food share locations will be available across Miami-Dade County.