Food Recovery Hub Proposal

[Natasha Harper-Madison]

Proposal: Food Recovery Hub for Austin, Texas

Executive Summary
The proposed Food Recovery Hub will create a centralized facility to reduce food waste, address food insecurity, and strengthen Austin’s local food system. Utilizing a 20,000 sq. ft. City-owned facility, the Hub will:
• Capture and store surplus food from large-scale donors.
• Process and redistribute food to families and individuals in need.
• Serve as a training site for workforce development and culinary education.
• Provide office space for emerging food recovery nonprofits.
• Host educational programs to promote culinary literacy.
• Develop a community garden to model sustainable urban agriculture.
The Hub will operate under a public-private partnership model, where the City of Austin provides the real estate and oversight while partner organizations handle day-to-day operations. This innovative approach ensures community expertise drives implementation while maintaining alignment with the City’s food resilience goals.
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The Problem: Why Now?
Austin faces a dual crisis of food waste and food insecurity:
• Food Insecurity: 15% of Travis County residents (187,990 people) experience food insecurity, with marginalized communities disproportionately impacted.
• Excess Food Waste: 37% of material headed to Austin’s landfills is organic waste, much of it edible food that could be recovered.
• Minimal Local Food Production: Only 0.06% of food consumed in Travis County is produced locally, exacerbating dependence on external supply chains.
• Farmland Loss: 13 acres of farmland were lost daily between 2017 and 2022, further reducing local food production capacity.
Existing food recovery efforts are fragmented, and without centralized infrastructure to capture, process, and redistribute surplus food, Austin misses the opportunity to both reduce waste and fight hunger.
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The Solution: Introducing the Food Recovery Hub
The Food Recovery Hub will be a multifunctional facility that closes gaps in food access and waste reduction by centralizing key activities in one location.
Core Components of the Hub:
1. Food Capture and Storage Infrastructure
Purpose: To intercept surplus food from large-scale donors before it goes to waste.
Features:
• Large capacity dry storage, walk-in refrigeration, and freezer units.
• Loading dock and receiving area for deliveries from partners like HEB, Sysco, and US Foods.
• Sorting stations to assess and triage food donations for safety and use.
• Inventory management system to track incoming donations and outgoing distributions.
Impact: Drastically reduces edible food waste

2. Food Processing and Meal Preparation
Purpose: To process donated ingredients into grocery kits and ready-to-eat meals.
Features:
• Full commercial kitchen for batch cooking, repackaging, and vacuum sealing.
• Meal assembly stations for volunteers and staff to prepare family-size grocery kits.
• Redistribution of groceries and prepared meals to local pantries, mutual aid groups, and community centers.
• Food safe labeling and portioning for nutrition tracking.
Impact: Enables rapid response to hunger and emergency food needs with healthy, culturally relevant meals.

3. Workforce Development and Training
Purpose: To build pathways into food sector careers while supporting the food system.
Features:
• Culinary and logistics training for students from Austin ISD and Austin Community College.
• Apprenticeships in food safety, kitchen operations, and logistics.
• Certification programs in ServSafe, commercial kitchen skills, and food recovery logistics.
Impact: Builds a pipeline of skilled labor while engaging youth and emerging adults in purpose-driven work.

4. Public Education and Culinary Literacy
Purpose: To empower residents with knowledge and skills to cook nourishing meals at home.
Features:
• A flexible teaching kitchen for in-person and online cooking classes using available ingredients from the hub with demo stations and cameras for livestreaming.
• Curriculum focusing on meal prep using recovered foods and reducing household food waste.
• Multilingual curriculum centered on seasonal produce and affordable meal planning.
Impact: Promotes nutrition education, reduces food waste at the household level, and fosters food sovereignty.

5. Office Space for Emerging Nonprofits
Purpose: To create an incubator environment for emerging food recovery and justice organizations.
Features:
• Co-working space, shared office equipment, and meeting rooms.
• Access to coaching and mentorship from City staff and established orgs.
• Shared data and tracking systems to align recovery efforts across groups.
Impact: Reduces siloing, encourages collaboration, and builds capacity across the ecosystem.

6. Urban Agriculture and Community Garden
Purpose: To model hyperlocal food production and engage the community.
Features:
• Use of available green space for small-scale urban agriculture, compost systems, and native pollinator landscaping.
• Programming led by the Urban Agriculture Program Manager or partner orgs.
• Opportunities for hands-on engagement for community volunteers and program participants (volunteer workdays, seed saving, and seasonal growing lessons).
Impact: Connects residents to food from soil to plate, enhances food literacy, and builds community resilience.

Add-On Ideas for the Future:
• Emergency Response Center: Hub could also serve as a community food resource during disasters.
• Community Fridge Network HQ: Host cold storage that supports citywide public fridge maintenance.
• R&D Test Lab: Pilot composting tech, packaging alternatives, or smart logistics tools.
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Proposed Public-Private Partnership Model
The Hub will operate under a hybrid management model where:
• The City of Austin: Provides real estate, infrastructure, and oversight to ensure alignment with the Austin-Travis County Food Plan.
• Partner Organizations: Handle daily operations, food distribution, and program implementation, leveraging community expertise and capacity.

Roles and Responsibilities
• City of Austin: Facility ownership, program management, regulatory compliance, and infrastructure maintenance.
• Operational Partner (Anchor Nonprofit Partner):
The Operational Partner will serve as the lead nonprofit organization responsible for managing daily operations at the Hub. This includes coordinating food donation intake, overseeing food processing and redistribution, managing volunteer engagement, and ensuring alignment with the Hub’s mission of equitable food recovery and community-centered impact.



The ideal Operational Partner will embody the following qualities:
o Demonstrated History of Collaboration: Proven success working within a network of food recovery organizations and charitable feeding partners across Austin and Travis County.
o Community-Centered Approach: Commitment to equitable food distribution and deep relationships with grassroots organizations, mutual aid groups, and emerging nonprofits.
o Ecosystem Support and Capacity Building: Willingness to foster mentorship, training, and knowledge sharing to strengthen the broader food recovery ecosystem.
o Transparency and Accountability: Commitment to data sharing, transparent reporting, and collaborative decision-making in partnership with the City and other stakeholders.
o Operational Excellence: Experience in managing food recovery logistics, including intake, storage, redistribution, and food safety compliance.
o Volunteer Coordination: Ability to effectively mobilize, train, and manage volunteers to support the Hub’s operations.

The City’s vision for the Food Recovery Hub is rooted in shared leadership and ecosystem growth, ensuring that the Hub not only recovers food but also strengthens Austin’s food recovery network through partnership, innovation, and shared learning.
• Supporting Partners: Provide specialized services in workforce development, education, and food recovery.
• Corporate and Philanthropic Partners: Fund capital improvements, equipment, and programming.

In addition, corporate partners such as HEB, Whole Foods, Sysco, and US Foods will be invited to provide food donations, infrastructure funding, and technical support.
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Budget and Resource Needs
Initial Investment: Estimated at $2.5 million to cover:
• Facility upgrades, including kitchen, storage, and workspace improvements.
• Equipment procurement (refrigeration, freezers, shelving, etc.).
• Initial staffing, program design, and operational infrastructure.

Ongoing Operational Costs: Estimated at $750,000 annually, supported through:
• City budget reallocation.
• Federal and state food system grants.
• Private sector sponsorships and philanthropic partnerships.

Implementation Timeline
Phase 1: Planning and Partnership Development (6–12 Months)
• Secure City Manager approval and identify operational partners.
• Conduct facility upgrades and develop operational protocols.
Phase 2: Pilot Launch and Program Refinement (12–24 Months)
• Launch initial food processing, workforce development, and educational programs.
• Evaluate program impact and refine logistics and partnerships.
Phase 3: Full Implementation and Expansion (24–36 Months)
• Expand operational capacity, increase food recovery volume, and scale community impact.

Anticipated Impact and Outcomes
1. Food Waste Reduction: Divert thousands of pounds of edible food from landfills each year.
2. Food Security: Provide nutritious, culturally appropriate meals to families in need.
3. Workforce Development: Equip students with marketable skills in food recovery and culinary arts.
4. Community Engagement: Build food literacy and empower residents to reduce waste at home.
5. Stronger Nonprofit Ecosystem: Strengthen capacity and collaboration across local food recovery organizations.
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Call to Action:
For the City Manager:
• Approve the creation of the Food Recovery Hub and allocate initial funding for facility upgrades and program launch.
• Engage partner organizations to manage daily operations and ensure alignment with community goals.

As per my previous post, proposals are presented in the spirit of collaboration! Feel free to respond here with insights, questions, or an existing efforts that may be a benefit to even more integration within the FOOD ecosystem. In my minds eye this is an additional opportunity, much like the COA Q&A asset, to communicate with staff w/out creating yet another email loop!
In peace,
NHM & Team D1