The Climate Impact of Food Recovery
Saving Food, Healing the Planet
Turning Surplus Food into Climate Action
At Farmlink, food recovery is a solution to two crises: hunger and climate change. By rescuing surplus food before it becomes waste, we’re preventing methane emissions, a greenhouse gas 80x more potent than CO2 and a primary contributor to climate change.
Every pound of food we save keeps harmful emissions out of the atmosphere, saves water, and conserves other critical resources. Food recovery can pull the emergency brake on climate change, providing an urgent solution to both mitigate climate impact and adapt to the growing challenges we face.
We believe a food-secure world relies on a climate-secure world.
At Farmlink, food recovery is a solution to two crises: hunger and climate change. By rescuing surplus food before it becomes waste, we’re preventing methane emissions, a greenhouse gas 80x more potent than CO2 and a primary contributor to climate change.
Every pound of food we save keeps harmful emissions out of the atmosphere, saves water, and conserves other critical resources. Food recovery can pull the emergency brake on climate change, providing an urgent solution to both mitigate climate impact and adapt to the growing challenges we face.
We believe a food-secure world relies on a climate-secure world.
Our Impact
Rescue. Reduce. Regenerate.
By rescuing 340 million pounds of food, we:
- Avoided 280k metric tons of CO2e
- Saved 19.8 billion gallons of water
- Created $680 million in economic value by providing logistics and transportation to redirect surplus to feed communities
- Saved the public $6.78 million in financial costs by keeping food out of landfills and additional methane out of the atmosphere
The impact is clear. We are reducing food waste at scale, preventing methane emissions before they happen, and feeding millions.We provide one of the most cost-effective, turn-key solutions to fight climate change today.
- Saved 19.8 billion gallons of water
- Created $680 million in economic value by providing logistics and transportation to redirect surplus to feed communities
- Saved the public $6.78 million in financial costs by keeping food out of landfills and additional methane out of the atmosphere
The impact is clear. We are reducing food waste at scale, preventing methane emissions before they happen, and feeding millions.We provide one of the most cost-effective, turn-key solutions to fight climate change today.
Climate Change in Your Life.
We are all on this planet together.
Climate affects everything we interact with! Meaning, the climate affects all facets of our lives. It affects how much food we are able to grow, where our food comes from, how much we need to run the AC in the summer, and how many snow days your kids have from school.
With all of these different impacts, it's helpful for us to understand the financial burden that climate change puts on each of our lives in a simple metric. The social cost of a greenhouse gas, in our case, methane, is a metric that represents the financial cost of the social damages caused by the emission of one ton of methane into the atmosphere.
When The Farmlink Project avoids methane emissions by keeping food from going to waste, we avert these damages and prevent that cost from being passed on to the public.This metric helps put a price tag on methane and we're helping people avoid footing the bill.
Since 2020, we’ve prevented 3,600 tons of methane equivalents from being emitted into the atmosphere, avoiding a public cost of 6.78 million dollars. Avoided damages include temperature-related mortality, infrastructure destruction, additional energy costs, and lower agricultural productivity.
With all of these different impacts, it's helpful for us to understand the financial burden that climate change puts on each of our lives in a simple metric. The social cost of a greenhouse gas, in our case, methane, is a metric that represents the financial cost of the social damages caused by the emission of one ton of methane into the atmosphere.
When The Farmlink Project avoids methane emissions by keeping food from going to waste, we avert these damages and prevent that cost from being passed on to the public.This metric helps put a price tag on methane and we're helping people avoid footing the bill.
Since 2020, we’ve prevented 3,600 tons of methane equivalents from being emitted into the atmosphere, avoiding a public cost of 6.78 million dollars. Avoided damages include temperature-related mortality, infrastructure destruction, additional energy costs, and lower agricultural productivity.
Food should feed communities, not heat our planet.
Investing in Farmlink:
A Proven Path to Accelerating SDG Impact
The $4.2 trillion shortfall in SDG funding by 2030 demands urgent action. Farmlink is a proven, scalable solution, rescuing surplus food to reduce waste, combat emissions, and fight hunger.
Our work directly advances SDG 12.3, 2, 13, and 10. But we can’t do it alone. Farmlink is a model for the kind of impactful investment needed to bridge the finance gap and drive meaningful, measurable progress toward the SDGs.
This is how we turn surplus food into a holistic climate solution.
Our work directly advances SDG 12.3, 2, 13, and 10. But we can’t do it alone. Farmlink is a model for the kind of impactful investment needed to bridge the finance gap and drive meaningful, measurable progress toward the SDGs.
This is how we turn surplus food into a holistic climate solution.
Wasted food isn't just wasted food.
Wasted food isn't just wasted food. It represents a loss of money, transportation, production, packaging, labor, water, and energy.
It represents a loss of
Money
$161 billion worth of food is wasted annually. The money lost from 2 years of food waste in the U.S. could eradicate global hunger and malnutrition for an entire year.*
*The Estimated Amount, Value, and Calories of Postharvest Food Losses at the Retail and Consumer Levels in the United States" (USDA,2018)
Transportation
The average distance food moves from farm to distribution center is 1500 miles in the U.S.
Land
In the United States, agricultural land covers 140 million acres, equal to 106 million football fields.
Energy
The energy lost from food waste in the United States is capable of powering more than 50 million U.S. homes. That's nearly 36% of all homes.
Labor
From the farmers, packers, and distributors... to the truck drivers, fork lifters, and shippers... to the food banks, community organizers, and volunteers... It takes a whole village to bring food to our tables.
Water
5.9 trillion gallons of water is wasted every year from food loss and waste alone. That's the same amount of water 50 million of homes use every year.
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Join Us: Together, We Can Change the Future of Food
Our work is urgent and essential. The challenges we face are immense, but the solutions are within reach. We’re taking action to support farmers, feed families, and heal the planet. But we can’t do it alone.The time to act is now. Whether through donations, partnerships, or spreading the word, we need your help to scale this change and build a food system that works for everyone—one that supports nature, feeds the world, and secures a sustainable future for generations.
DOnate NOW
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