At the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market, Evan Ehlers weaves through stacked-up boxes of onions, potatoes, strawberries, and other produce on his way to work. Throughout the day, vendors will route thousands of pounds of unsold food to his nonprofit, Sharing Excess, which diverts it from landfills and into the community.
“It’s generated a massive amount of food for people in need,” says Mark Smith, the market’s general manager. “Sharing Excess has had a tangible benefit on our bottom line. Prior to Sharing Excess, we would dispose of 6,000 tons of waste per year. We’ve literally cut our waste in half.”
View this post on Instagram
The organization operates out of this market and in the building’s office space, but Ehlers is rarely seated at a desk. He’s chatting with people all over the market, establishing partnerships in neighboring states, and traveling across the country to oversee operations and make new connections. Sharing Excess started working in Delaware two years ago and has grown into partnerships with five nonprofits: Food Bank of Delaware, Sunday Breakfast Mission, Asbury United Methodist Church, Emmanuel Dining Room, and Black Mothers in Power.
“Prior to Sharing Excess, we would dispose of 6,000 tons of waste per year. We’ve literally cut our waste in half.”
—Mark Smith, general manager at the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market
Considering the state’s smaller size, Ehlers says, “We have a really good shot at proving what we can do with our systems in the confines of a state like Delaware and creating comprehensive partnerships.”
Sharing Excess coordinates food sharing in 33 states and has saved nearly 100 million pounds of food—or at least 80 million meals—since 2018. It requires around 50 employees and 1,000-plus volunteers who work mostly at the headquarters in Philly and at its location in the Bronx, New York, along with a growing number of partner businesses and organizations nationwide.
On one side, there are retailers, wholesalers, farmers, and other businesses that have excess food to donate but lack the resources to effectively redistribute fresh food. On the other side, many organizations are interacting daily with those who need food and would put donations to good use, but they might lack resources to retrieve excess food. Sharing Excess bridges the gap by finding, transporting, and delivering food that would otherwise be thrown out.
Can Delaware Become a Zero-Food-Waste State?
“In Delaware, there’s a really great opportunity to make this a zero-food-waste state, or at least as close as possible with edible food waste coming from major businesses,” Ehlers says.
To do this, he hopes to expand statewide partnerships, like having a more significant presence in the Port of Wilmington, which is North America’s largest banana port thanks to Dole Food Company and Chiquita Fresh North America importing two shipments every week. The nonprofit currently works with wholesalers in the port, including Dole, whenever they have surpluses and has already rescued more than 800,000 pounds of produce.
At the Food Bank of Delaware, there’s an increasing need for more food donations. “In the month of November, we distributed two million pounds of food in one month, which we have not done since May of 2020,” says Cathy Kanefsky, president and CEO of the food bank. “The need was maybe for a very different reason then, but the need has not gone away.”
View this post on Instagram
The food bank runs multiple programs and helps stock more than 200 community organizations’ pantries across the state. Donations came pouring in during the height of the pandemic, although that’s no longer so. It has the 302 Food Rescue Crew to save and redistribute food waste, but that’s largely dependent on volunteers. Sharing Excess provides another source of rescued-food donations, and the food bank team knows just where they should go.
“In Delaware, there’s a really great opportunity to make this a zero-food-waste state, or at least as close as possible with edible food waste coming from major businesses.”
—Evan Ehlers
“When we were introduced to each other a couple of years ago, it was really a beautiful partnership, and we have maintained and grown that partnership,” Kanefsky says. “We actually have received [in 2024] over 100,000 pounds of food from Sharing Excess and, since we started with them, it’s actually almost 600,000 pounds.”
In Delaware, one in eight people are hungry, according to Feeding America. Kanefsky thinks of this statistic often and how much it would mean to one of those people to receive a meal. Just a few pounds of food could turn their day around.
Related: Healthy Pantry Centers Make Nutritious Food Accessible in Delaware
