The 40 Best Food Banks in America

The Food Bank for the Heartland serves 93 counties in Nebraska and Iowa is utilizing donated food from grocery stores and manufacturers and buys additional food with raised funds, focusing on items with high nutritional value. Partnering with 600 other nonprofits, the organization distributed 22 million meals in fiscal 2018.

Through a network of 720 programs and partner agencies, the Community Foodbank of Eastern Oklahoma serves over 450,000 meals per week in 24 counties. In addition to the common venues of distribution, this food bank also runs a food truck and multiple veterans outreach programs, including hot lunch and mobile pantry deliveries.

Working with over 390 partner agencies, Second Harvest of Northwest North Carolina serves 18 counties in the region and moves 37 tons of food every day through a central warehouse. In a unique initiative aimed at building lasting solutions to poverty by providing job training, the organization runs the Providence Culinary Training Kitchen, where trainees can gain culinary skills and build their resume while making food to service community meals programs.

Serving 21 counties in Minnesota and North Dakota, the North Country food bank partners with over 230 agencies and food relief programs. Utilizing surplus food from farms, manufacturers, and grocery stores, the organization distributed over 7.4 million pounds of food in 2018, and used over 1,000 volunteers who contributed 12,830 hours of service.

Fulfill is a food bank that serves Monmouth and Ocean counties in New Jersey. In addition to providing over 12 million pounds of food annually to 300 of the region’s food relief services — including soup kitchens, pantries, and children’s meal programs — Fulfill also offers a culinary training program and free assistance with SNAP, tax preparation, and health care applications.

The Foodbank of Southern California services neighborhoods in Los Angeles and is one of the largest fresh produce distributors of any California foodbank, delivering over 22 million pounds of fresh produce annually. It serves 250,000 people weekly through 700 partner organizations. Of all the best food banks in America, the Foodbank of Southern California uses the highest percentage of their expenses toward their services-99.7%.

Feed My People is a Christian organization that serves Saint Louis County in Missouri, with over 20 relief programs that extend beyond food relief to job counseling, school supply distribution, and utilities assistance. The organization runs thrift stores at each of its facilities, using the income to fund its programs.

Serving five counties in southern Arizona, the Community Food Bank provides not only hunger relief, but also programs to promote healthy lifestyles and community. The programs include backyard gardening classes, community garden plots, culinary training, training in social justice advocacy, and even grants and micro-loans to other community organizations and local food businesses.

Through its own programs and 250 partner agencies, the Central Texas Food Bank serves 21 counties and distributed over 33 million pounds of food in the 2018 fiscal year. In addition, its culinary training and garden education programs provide life skills to community members while also producing and preparing food for relief programs. The Food Bank also has a government advocacy program to encourage legislation to end hunger.

Serving 16 counties in southwestern Wisconsin, the Second Harvest Food Bank provides 14 million meals a year, utilizing over 5 million pounds of food rescued from the grocery store waste stream and 2 million pounds of excess produce from local farms. It also provides health management classes for people with diabetes and works with pediatric and family care physicians to ensure patients’ nutritional needs can be identified and met.

In conjunction with 200 partner agencies, the North Texas Food Bank provides food for over 1,000 programs in 13 counties. In the 2016 fiscal year, that totaled 70 million meals. With a focus on providing fresh produce, the Food Bank connects volunteer laborers to 20 community garden partners, who then donate 10% of their crops to food relief — this amounted to a total of over 30,000 pounds of produce in 2018.

High Plains Food Bank serves 29 counties in the Texas panhandle through a network of nearly 200 partner agencies. In addition to distributing food to senior and child care centers, soup kitchens, churches, and emergency pantries, the organization also offers EBT application help, nutrition and healthy shopping education. Also, since 2009, it has run an urban garden project that combines nutrition and gardening education with the production of over 20,000 pounds of fresh produce for hunger relief.

Serving nine counties in Northern New Mexico through a network of over 145 partner agencies, the Food Depot provides 370,000 meals every month in addition to household products, diapers, and food for pets. According to a 2014 study conducted by Feeding America and the New Mexico Association of Food Banks, 89% of the households in New Mexico seeking food assistance have an annual income of less than $20,000.

The Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana serves seven parishes, providing 11 million pounds of food annually to its own programs and partner agencies in the region. In addition to senior and children’s programs and a mobile pantry, the Food Bank also provides food, water, and supplies for disaster relief in the area.

Working with over 200 partner agencies, this food bank feeds over 250,000 people in Orange County every month. This happens with the help of over 24,000 volunteers every year, who sort, inspect, and package donated food.

The Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio serves the four counties of Lorain, Huron, Erie, and Crawford, in conjunction with 112 partner organizations, including soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters, and food delivery services. Food is sourced from hundreds of grocery stores, farms, and manufacturers in the area, as well as purchased with monetary donations.

Serving northern coastal California, the Redwood Empire Food Bank is a distribution hub that partners with 170 agencies to provide hunger relief in five counties. With an eye on long-term solutions, the organization also advocates for government legislation to solve hunger problems in the area.

With an emphasis on waste-stream intervention, the Houston Food Bank rescues food from local grocery stores and manufacturers and distributes it through a network of 1,500 partner agencies in southeast Texas. It also provides hot meals for children, nutrition education, and SNAP application assistance.

Covering 16 counties in southeast Missouri, the SEMO Food Bank works with 180 nonprofits as well as providing direct service through its own initiatives serving children and seniors and providing emergency food assistance and a mobile pantry. SEMO’s Farm to Foodbank program seeks to add more fresh produce to the service stream by partnering with local farmers who donate excess, blemished, and misshapen produce, and some of whom pledge to plant extra crops for donation.

The Northeast Iowa Food Bank serves 16 counties in a region where an estimated 48,000 people are food insecure. In addition to providing food for over 200 nonprofits and its own service programs, it also runs a community garden to supplement its summer meals program with fresh produce that children can grow and harvest and offers nutrition education services to clients, including recipes and meal preparation tips.

A unique program run by this Texas food bank is Hunters for the Hungry, a collaboration with hunters and meat processors who team up to provide fresh venison to their fellow Texans. So far the program has distributed 6.5 million servings of venison, and donations are increasing every year. The Food Bank of the Golden Crescent also works with over 100 partner agencies to provide food relief to 11 counties.

FeedMore is a partnership between Meals on Wheels in Central Virginia, the Central Virginia Food Bank, and the Community Kitchen. Serving 34 counties and cities, FeedMore offers food programs for children and seniors in need as well as mobile and emergency food services and a Hunger Hotline that connects people to food resources in their area.

With a focus on food rescue, Three Square, a food bank in Southern Nevada, works with nearly 300 retail partners to collect food that would be destined for landfills and also partners with MGM Resorts to redistribute surplus banquet food from the hotel and casino chain’s Las Vegas locations. Last year, over 17 million pounds of food were salvaged from retailers and distributed to nonprofits, churches, and children and seniors’ programs in the four-county zone that Three Square services.

Dare to Care serves 13 counties in Kentucky and Louisiana, partnering with 300 community organizations including shelters, food pantries, and emergency services. The organization also runs its own food services, including a unique pilot program called Prescriptive Pantry, in which participating physicians can prescribe nutritious food from an on-site pantry to patients from food insecure homes.

Ozarks Food Harvest runs a program that salvages 33,000 pounds of food yearly from local farms, in addition to 20,000 pounds of produce donated by local farmers and gardeners. The food bank also rescues, sources, and distributes food to 28 counties along with a network of 270 partner organizations, reaching 261,000 individuals with 18.4 million pounds of food yearly.

Working with 120 partner agencies, the Maui Food Bank serves populations on the islands of Maui, Molokai, and Lanai, reaching 10,000 food insecure people every month, with 50% of recipients being single mothers. The organization also provides disaster relief, SNAP application help, and civil rights education.

In addition to providing food to 309 partner agencies in the two-county service area, this food bank also helps with SNAP application assistance and does government advocacy. Second Harvest works with local and national organizations to advocate for legislation that improves food and nutrition programs and creates systems to end hunger.

In the Oakland metro area, which has one of the highest costs of living in the nation, 65% of the Alameda County Community Food Bank’s clients make under $28,290 annually. The Food Bank feeds 49,000 people weekly through 275 partner agencies and food distribution programs. The organization also does community education and government policy advocacy.

Serving three counties around Youngstown, Ohio, Second Harvest Foodbank of the Mahoning Valley distributes food to 160 partner agencies, provides community education and advocacy, and pursues state and federal changes to allow more individuals access to SNAP benefits.

Serving Dane County, Wisconsin, The River Food Pantry provides groceries, meals, and clothing to over 1,000 households weekly, totalling 65,000 pounds of food distributed every week. Five days a week, The organization also hosts community meals that are available when clients arrive to pick up food from the pantry market.

Serving four counties in northeastern New Jersey, Table to Table is a food rescue organization

that collects food otherwise destined for the waste stream from 200 grocery stores, distributors, and restaurants and delivers it to over 160 partner agencies that provide food relief to those in need.

River Bend Food Bank serves 23 counties in eastern Iowa and western Illinois, where over 120,000 people are food insecure. River Bend partners with 300 agencies, including residential treatment facilities, day cares, shelters, food pantries, and hospitals. In 2017, the organization served over 13.4 million meals.

Partnering with over 1,000 agencies and programs, Central Pennsylvania Food Bank serves over 140,000 people in 27 counties, distributing 4 million pounds of food monthly. The Food Bank also runs nutrition education programs, senior and youth programs, and a military program that serves families in which at least one person is actively serving or has served in the military in the past.

Serving Boulder and Broomfield counties in Colorado, Community Food Share relies heavily on food rescue as its main source of donations. It salvages 11 tons of food daily from grocery stores, distributors, farmers, and foodservice operators, and distributes 70% of it through over 40 partner agencies and 30% through its own direct programs.

The St. Louis Area Foodbank serves 14 counties in eastern Missouri and 12 counties in southwestern Illinois. It collects and distributes over 43 million pounds of food annually to 500 partner organizations, including shelters, transitional housing programs, food pantries, and senior and youth programs.

Clark County Food Bank, in partnership with 40 local agencies, serves Clark County, Washington, through a combination of grocery salvage, donation distribution, and farming. With 12 acres of dedicated farmland and an additional network of farmers and volunteer gleaners who harvest excess and unsellable crops, the organization is able to provide ample fresh produce as a part of the 6.6 million pounds of food it distributes yearly.

The Mountain Area Nutritional Needs Alliance (MANNA) is an organization serving 16 counties in western North Carolina. In the 2018 fiscal year, it distributed over 18 million pounds of food through over 200 community partners. MANNA also offers SNAP assistance, after-school and year-round food packs for children, and nutrition education.

The Weld Food Bank serves Weld County, Colorado, with distribution of over 12 million pounds of food annually, much of it salvaged and donated from farmers, grocery stores, and food manufacturers. Its programs include emergency food boxes, mobile and school pantries, and summer meals for children. The foodband also partners with 82 nonprofits, including shelters, pantries, soup kitchens, and residential treatment facilities.

Serving Montgomery, Greene, and Preble counties in Ohio for over 40 years, The Foodbank distributes food to over 100 pantries, shelters, and community kitchens. The organization raises funds for disaster relief efforts and relies heavily on volunteers help to organize food drives, fundraises, and sort and distribute foods.

Serving 11 counties in Iowa, the Food Bank of Siouxland distributes food to over 16,000 people every month. In the 2018 fiscal year, the Food Bank provided almost 2.3 million pounds of food for its own programs, including mobile school pantries and back packs for kids, and to nearly 100 other agencies, including shelters, children’s homes, rehabilitation programs, and emergency relief organizations.