Jess Parker works with the Divert team as the food recovery program manager.
"The amount of food we're wasting, then you think about the amount of need that's out there, it makes no sense," Parker said."We're trying to move as much wasted food as possible to folks in need, first and foremost." Divert works with 5,400 stores in all 50 states to maximize the value of unsold food by strengthening how stores donate surplus food to those who need it.
Food that can't be donated is recycled at plants across the country — including one in Freetown — to combat greenhouse gas emissions. "We're taking wasted, inedible food from retailers, we're turning it into renewable energy through a process called anaerobic digestion," Parker said.