A new effort aimed at reducing food waste in Manhattan and Riley County is connecting the local food industry directly with shelters, churches and food pantries that can easily re-purpose it.

Riley County and Manhattan Food and Farm Council (FFC) Coordinator Vickie James says the idea for the new Flint Hills Food Recovery, grew from the vision of the now defunct Manhattan Soup Kitchen, which had aimed at something similar prior to the pandemic. Co-founders Shelly and Sande Williams donated the funds to secure the first to years of access to a mobile app called ChowMatch. With it, James says a caterer, for example, can connect with potential recipients who can re-distribute that food.

“The caterer can, in one minute, plug in that they’ve got X amount of food and what type of food, and schedule a food run. What that does, it matches what recipient could take that food, that time of day, that volume of food, and get it served out safely to people in need,” she said.

KMAN News Director and host of In Focus. Contact Brandon at Brandon@1350KMAN.com

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