September 4, 2024
(press release)
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How Chick-fil-A restaurants are using leftover food to reduce both hunger and food waste across communities and how you can join in the fight, too. Every day in Chick-fil-A® restaurants across the country, Team Members prepare and serve thousands of pounds of food to Guests, including Chick-fil-A® Chicken Sandwiches, salads, Chick-fil-A® Nuggets and more. In preparing these food items, Team Members seek to ensure a minimal amount of food goes to waste.
But, when there is surplus food, Chick-fil-A restaurants have the opportunity to donate these items to those in need through the Chick-fil-A Shared Table® food donation program.
What is the Chick-fil-A Shared Table® Program?
The Chick-fil-A Shared Table program was started in 2012 in an effort to make use of surplus food in restaurants, while also meeting a need in the community. Today, more than 2,200 Chick-fil-A restaurants take part in the program, which continues to grow each year.
How the program works
• With the help of Food Donation Connection, the Chick-fil-A Shared Table program bridges the gap between participating Chick-fil-A restaurants and local nonprofits and organizations like shelters and soup kitchens.
• After Chick-fil-A Team Members package and send the surplus food, the nonprofit organizations pick up the packaged food.
• The donated food is repurposed into new meals such as breakfast casseroles, stir fry dishes and salads, and served to those in need.
To date, our partner organizations have served more than 30 million meals to those in need from food donated through the Chick-fil-A Shared Table program.
Reducing hunger and food waste
In addition to donating leftover food, Chick-fil-A restaurants also use a “cook less, more often” approach to reduce or eliminate the amount of food that goes unserved. This includes cooking chicken throughout the day and preparing salads frequently so that restaurants are serving Guests freshly prepared food while also working to reduce food waste.
• To inspire at-home chefs to reduce food waste in their own kitchens, Chick-fil-A released its first-ever cookbook last year inspired by the Chick-fil-A Shared Table program.
• Free for all to access, the cookbook, titled “Extra Helpings,” includes 26 easy-to-follow recipes, which utilize Chick-fil-A favorites as well as common extra food items in home kitchens.
Click here to learn more about the Chick-fil-A Shared Table program, as well as the corporate social responsibility page to learn additional ways Chick-fil-A, Inc. and local restaurant Owner-Operators are serving our communities.
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