{"id":12175,"date":"2018-08-17t12:43:42","date_gmt":"2018-08-17t12:43:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dpetrov.2create.studio\/planet\/wordpress\/rescue-a-leftover-save-the-planet\/"},"modified":"2023-02-28t18:49:30","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28t18:49:30","slug":"rescue-a-leftover-save-the-planet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/rescue-a-leftover-save-the-planet\/","title":{"rendered":"rescue a leftover, save the planet"},"content":{"rendered":"

many describe a trip to new york as \u201ctaking a bite out of the big apple.\u201d for robert lee, co-founder of rescuing leftover cuisine<\/a> and 2016 recipient of forbes 30 under 30<\/a> for social entrepreneurship, his time in new york led him down a different path: what happens to the rest of the apple?<\/p>\n

according to the 2017 annual united nations report<\/a> on world food security and nutrition, the number of people affected by hunger has increased by 38 million since 2016. as 11% of the global population suffers from hunger, violent conflicts and climate-related shocks are predicted to only exacerbate the trend.<\/p>\n

\"robert
robert lee, who grew up in a hard-working immigrant family, saw an opportunity in the paradox between food waste and global hunger. (rescuing leftover cuisine<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

lee was no stranger to the concept of hunger when he launched rescuing leftover cuisine. as a child of korean immigrants, he grew up witnessing the power of hard work and the beauty of the american dream. he also experienced what it was like to be hungry, despite living in the land of \u201cthe supersized meal.\u201d he would think: \u201chow can 1 in 7 people in america be hungry while 40% of all food in the united states gets tossed annually?\u201d <\/em>(a stat from the national resources defense council<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

where others saw a frustrating paradox between food waste and global hunger, lee identified an opportunity. using his financial background he calculated that this wastage could serve 58,064,516,129 meals (based on the national average of $2.79\/meal). with the inspiration of a college organization, lee partnered with classmate, louisa chen, to tackle hunger by launching rescuing leftover cuisine. the mission was simple: help the hungry by saving quality food that would otherwise go to waste.<\/p>\n

a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, rescuing leftover cuisine partners with restaurants to rescue quality leftover food and ensure it reaches those who need it. since the organization\u2019s new york launch in 2013, the model has thrived. in 5 years, they have rescued 2.1 million pounds of food, created 1.6 million meals for the hungry, prevented more than 330 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents from being emitted into the environment, and expanded to 16 cities \u2014 and even more are interested. rescuing leftover cuisine selected their new cities from 300 eager branch applicants.<\/p>\n

when asked \u201cwhat makes this company so successful?\u201d lee immediately points to the mission: eliminating food waste by feeding hungry families. every aspect of the organization is intentional and purpose driven. his goal for food efficiency is reflected in the organization\u2019s operational efficiencies. for instance, transportation between the partner restaurants and homeless shelters is crowd sourced and volunteer run. a key factor in the organization\u2019s success is this localized engagement. again, technology enables rescuing leftover cuisine to communicate seamlessly between partner restaurants and volunteers. a web application allows restaurants to report excess food and volunteers to be notified accordingly. rescuing leftover cuisine further promotes efficiency by offering reports and analyses to partner restaurants of their excess food purchases and suggestions on how to avoid food waste. \u201ceven if this means less donated food in the short-term,\u201d explained lee, \u201cit will contribute to more positive long-term impacts.\u201d<\/p>\n

rescuing leftover cuisine is led by determined and passionate people with a background in this work. lee himself spent four years at new york university learning about saving quality food with a campus club that took cafeteria leftovers to local homeless shelters. he combines that experience with his academic and professional background in finance to guide the non-profit to success. after spending just a few minutes speaking with lee, you will note his commitment to due diligence and his contagious enthusiasm for this work.<\/p>\n

while he fights hunger directly by connecting the hungry with quality food, lee is also thinking about the future. \u201cclimate change is a key issue in our organization,\u201d he says. \u201cwhen the 40% of food wasted annually in the u.s. reaches a landfill, it generates methane.\u201d methane is a greenhouse gas that is 23 times<\/a> as potent as carbon dioxide in trapping heat within the atmosphere. \u201cwe eat three meals a day,\u201d lee explained, \u201cif we can get people thinking about their impact on this level, we can make a clear difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

lee’s diligent work ethic and forward thinking helped land him a spot on forbes 30 under 30<\/a> list for social entrepreneurship. it is evident that saving the rest of the metaphorical big apple is only the beginning for rescuing leftover cuisine. with a model that has proven successful and scalable, the organization plans to focus on increasing impact across its 16 cities in the near-term. rescuing leftover cuisine\u2019s focus on community-driven change is helping tackle global hunger one city (and leftover) at a time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

rescuing leftover cuisine is a new york-based nonprofit founded by robert lee, who was selected for the 2016 forbes 30 under 30 for social entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9570,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4896,5196],"tags":[39,1385,4055,129,549,591],"storyfest_categories":[],"class_list":["post-12175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food","category-past-storyfest","tag-carbon-emissions","tag-co2","tag-food-recovery","tag-food-waste","tag-nonprofit","tag-storyfest"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nrescue a leftover, save the planet - planet forward<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/rescue-a-leftover-save-the-planet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"rescue a leftover, save the planet - planet forward\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"rescuing leftover cuisine is a new york-based nonprofit founded by robert lee, who was selected for the 2016 forbes 30 under 30 for social entrepreneurship.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/rescue-a-leftover-save-the-planet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"planet forward\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/planetforward.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-08-17t12:43:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-28t18:49:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"harleen marwah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@planet_forward\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@planet_forward\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"harleen marwah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"article\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/rescue-a-leftover-save-the-planet\/#article\",\"ispartof\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/rescue-a-leftover-save-the-planet\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"harleen marwah\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/#\/schema\/person\/834d5c2397ce21959f70c2fb1b308279\"},\"headline\":\"rescue a leftover, save the planet\",\"datepublished\":\"2018-08-17t12:43:42+00:00\",\"datemodified\":\"2023-02-28t18:49:30+00:00\",\"mainentityofpage\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/rescue-a-leftover-save-the-planet\/\"},\"wordcount\":787,\"commentcount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"carbon emissions\",\"co2\",\"food recovery\",\"food waste\",\"nonprofit\",\"storyfest\"],\"articlesection\":[\"food\",\"past storyfest entries\"],\"inlanguage\":\"en-us\",\"potentialaction\":[{\"@type\":\"commentaction\",\"name\":\"comment\",\"target\":[\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/rescue-a-leftover-save-the-planet\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"webpage\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/rescue-a-leftover-save-the-planet\/\",\"url\":\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/rescue-a-leftover-save-the-planet\/\",\"name\":\"rescue a leftover, save the planet - planet forward\",\"ispartof\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/#website\"},\"datepublished\":\"2018-08-17t12:43:42+00:00\",\"datemodified\":\"2023-02-28t18:49:30+00:00\",\"inlanguage\":\"en-us\",\"potentialaction\":[{\"@type\":\"readaction\",\"target\":[\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/rescue-a-leftover-save-the-planet\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"website\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/\",\"name\":\"planet forward\",\"description\":\"inspiring stories to 2022年卡塔尔世界杯官网 \",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialaction\":[{\"@type\":\"searchaction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"entrypoint\",\"urltemplate\":\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"propertyvaluespecification\",\"valuerequired\":true,\"valuename\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inlanguage\":\"en-us\"},{\"@type\":\"organization\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"planet forward\",\"url\":\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"imageobject\",\"inlanguage\":\"en-us\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/pf_main_primary_rgb-1-1.png\",\"contenturl\":\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/pf_main_primary_rgb-1-1.png\",\"width\":1264,\"height\":660,\"caption\":\"planet forward\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameas\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/planetforward.org\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/planet_forward\"]},{\"@type\":\"person\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/#\/schema\/person\/834d5c2397ce21959f70c2fb1b308279\",\"name\":\"harleen marwah\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"imageobject\",\"inlanguage\":\"en-us\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95367ebed4f6e1fc493a9dff96655a5?s=96&d=https%3a%2f%2fplanetforward.org%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2023%2f02%2funtitled-design-1-150x150.png&r=g\",\"contenturl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95367ebed4f6e1fc493a9dff96655a5?s=96&d=https%3a%2f%2fplanetforward.org%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2023%2f02%2funtitled-design-1-150x150.png&r=g\",\"caption\":\"harleen marwah\"},\"description\":\"\u201cif your life\u2019s work can be accomplished in your lifetime, you\u2019re not thinking big enough.\u201d these words from wes jackson, co-founder of the lands institute, ground me as i advocate for the health consequences of climate change. as part of the last generation that can prevent runaway climate change, i feel charged to advocate for a healthier planet for future generations. as a future physician, i understand that to provide optimal care for my patients i must understand the broader dynamics influencing their health outside of a clinical setting. furthermore, i appreciate that global is local and recognize that staying globally informed is essential to advancing care on local levels. climate change poses threats to human health globally, from heat strokes to respiratory issues. as extreme weather events drive people out of their homes, dense crowding will cause increased incidence of infectious diseases. furthermore, proper medical treatment is less effective when environmental and social determinants of health are compromised. critical patient needs, including access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene, are threatened when climate change puts a strain on valuable resources. climate change may also create unanticipated health crises, to which entire populations are susceptible without sufficient emergency preparedness infrastructure. climate change will have particularly disastrous consequences for some of the most vulnerable populations globally. before medical school, i collaborated with the united nations on the paris climate agreement, attending the cop20 in lima, peru and cop21 in paris, france.  in my career, i plan to advocate for patient needs both inside and outside of a clinical setting. i will dedicate my career to drawing important connections across sectors of government, business, and healthcare to build a healthier world for all. my experiences thus far have shown me that not only is health the foundation of an individual\u2019s life, but also of a community. i want to be part of a generation of physicians driving progress and moving the planet forward.\",\"url\":\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/author\/harleen-marwah\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ yoast seo plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"rescue a leftover, save the planet - planet forward","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/rescue-a-leftover-save-the-planet\/","og_locale":"en_us","og_type":"article","og_title":"rescue a leftover, save the planet - planet forward","og_description":"rescuing leftover cuisine is a new york-based nonprofit founded by robert lee, who was selected for the 2016 forbes 30 under 30 for social entrepreneurship.","og_url":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/rescue-a-leftover-save-the-planet\/","og_site_name":"planet forward","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/planetforward.org","article_published_time":"2018-08-17t12:43:42+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-02-28t18:49:30+00:00","author":"harleen marwah","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@planet_forward","twitter_site":"@planet_forward","twitter_misc":{"written by":"harleen marwah","est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"article","@id":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/rescue-a-leftover-save-the-planet\/#article","ispartof":{"@id":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/rescue-a-leftover-save-the-planet\/"},"author":{"name":"harleen marwah","@id":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/#\/schema\/person\/834d5c2397ce21959f70c2fb1b308279"},"headline":"rescue a leftover, save the planet","datepublished":"2018-08-17t12:43:42+00:00","datemodified":"2023-02-28t18:49:30+00:00","mainentityofpage":{"@id":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/rescue-a-leftover-save-the-planet\/"},"wordcount":787,"commentcount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["carbon emissions","co2","food recovery","food waste","nonprofit","storyfest"],"articlesection":["food","past storyfest entries"],"inlanguage":"en-us","potentialaction":[{"@type":"commentaction","name":"comment","target":["\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/rescue-a-leftover-save-the-planet\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"webpage","@id":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/rescue-a-leftover-save-the-planet\/","url":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/rescue-a-leftover-save-the-planet\/","name":"rescue a leftover, save the planet - planet forward","ispartof":{"@id":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/#website"},"datepublished":"2018-08-17t12:43:42+00:00","datemodified":"2023-02-28t18:49:30+00:00","inlanguage":"en-us","potentialaction":[{"@type":"readaction","target":["\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/rescue-a-leftover-save-the-planet\/"]}]},{"@type":"website","@id":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/#website","url":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/","name":"planet forward","description":"inspiring stories to 2022年卡塔尔世界杯官网 ","publisher":{"@id":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/#organization"},"potentialaction":[{"@type":"searchaction","target":{"@type":"entrypoint","urltemplate":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"propertyvaluespecification","valuerequired":true,"valuename":"search_term_string"}}],"inlanguage":"en-us"},{"@type":"organization","@id":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/#organization","name":"planet forward","url":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/","logo":{"@type":"imageobject","inlanguage":"en-us","@id":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/pf_main_primary_rgb-1-1.png","contenturl":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/pf_main_primary_rgb-1-1.png","width":1264,"height":660,"caption":"planet forward"},"image":{"@id":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameas":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/planetforward.org","https:\/\/x.com\/planet_forward"]},{"@type":"person","@id":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/#\/schema\/person\/834d5c2397ce21959f70c2fb1b308279","name":"harleen marwah","image":{"@type":"imageobject","inlanguage":"en-us","@id":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95367ebed4f6e1fc493a9dff96655a5?s=96&d=https%3a%2f%2fplanetforward.org%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2023%2f02%2funtitled-design-1-150x150.png&r=g","contenturl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95367ebed4f6e1fc493a9dff96655a5?s=96&d=https%3a%2f%2fplanetforward.org%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2023%2f02%2funtitled-design-1-150x150.png&r=g","caption":"harleen marwah"},"description":"\u201cif your life\u2019s work can be accomplished in your lifetime, you\u2019re not thinking big enough.\u201d these words from wes jackson, co-founder of the lands institute, ground me as i advocate for the health consequences of climate change. as part of the last generation that can prevent runaway climate change, i feel charged to advocate for a healthier planet for future generations. as a future physician, i understand that to provide optimal care for my patients i must understand the broader dynamics influencing their health outside of a clinical setting. furthermore, i appreciate that global is local and recognize that staying globally informed is essential to advancing care on local levels. climate change poses threats to human health globally, from heat strokes to respiratory issues. as extreme weather events drive people out of their homes, dense crowding will cause increased incidence of infectious diseases. furthermore, proper medical treatment is less effective when environmental and social determinants of health are compromised. critical patient needs, including access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene, are threatened when climate change puts a strain on valuable resources. climate change may also create unanticipated health crises, to which entire populations are susceptible without sufficient emergency preparedness infrastructure. climate change will have particularly disastrous consequences for some of the most vulnerable populations globally. before medical school, i collaborated with the united nations on the paris climate agreement, attending the cop20 in lima, peru and cop21 in paris, france.  in my career, i plan to advocate for patient needs both inside and outside of a clinical setting. i will dedicate my career to drawing important connections across sectors of government, business, and healthcare to build a healthier world for all. my experiences thus far have shown me that not only is health the foundation of an individual\u2019s life, but also of a community. i want to be part of a generation of physicians driving progress and moving the planet forward.","url":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/author\/harleen-marwah\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12175","targethints":{"allow":["get"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9570"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12175\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12175"},{"taxonomy":"storyfest_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/storyfest_categories?post=12175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}