Free Food Collective

Globally, 30-40% of all food is sent to landfills, where it emits methane gas (84x more potent than CO2!). Meanwhile 38 million people experienced hunger in the US in 2020. This is a humanitarian crisis and environmental disaster. We work to stop this on a local level by recovering excess food in LA and giving to people who need it instead. Since we started this project in May 2021, we have recovered over 20,000 pounds of fresh food.

Volunteers pick up extra produce from local farmers markets, and then we sort them into grocery bags for our neighbors. Transportation is a huge hurdle for unhoused folks, so we deliver the grocery bags directly to their encampments. We give fruit to folks who do not have access to cookware and vegetables for those that cook. We currently serve approximately 15 different encampments of various sizes all throughout West LA. 

Our ultimate goal is to end the commodification of our survival needs: food, water, housing. We reject a society that values profits over human needs. We do not accept that food is being sent to landfills, which are situated next to our poorest communities, while our city officials continuously leave our unhoused neighbors without access to food and the resources they need to survive.

1. Expanding our efforts.
We plan to expand our efforts to recover more food, in particular prepared food. To do this, we will need access to cold storage, a repackaging kitchen, and to-go supplies.

2. Purchasing survival supplies.
Hot plates, crock pots, shelf-stable food, cooking supplies, tents, sleeping bags, clothing, hygiene kits, harm reduction supplies, etc. We prefer gently used second hand items for household items and clothing. Please email us to donate yours.

3. Maintaining our current work and supporting our volunteers.
We currently are able to self-sustain on very little to no money, using all donated materials. However, with the rising cost of gas, we would like to support our volunteers by reimbursing them for the gas they use when picking up and delivering produce.

4. Supporting our partner organizations, LA Neighbors for Neighbors and Palms Unhoused Mutual Aid.
We provide groceries and food for LA Neighbors for Neighbors, an organization that puts on a monthly resource center for unhoused folks living in West LA. We support Palms Unhoused Mutual Aid, an organization that supports our unhoused community through weekly harm reduction efforts and thoughtful outreach at encampments in West LA.