Livingston High School junior Veer Agarwal has started the nonprofit ResQFood to help alleviate food waste throughout town.
With the assistance of the non-profit organization Table to Table, ResQFood allows restaurants and residents to donate excess food to those in need. During its inaugural year, ResQFood has partnered with nine Livingston restaurants to take their excess food and deliver it to various local food banks.
Creating ResQFood
After spending his summer volunteering to teach orphaned Indian children English via Zoom, Agarwal
decided he wanted to help his local community.
“After that experience, I knew I wanted a meaningful way to serve the immediate community and to do so in a unique way,” he said. As he brainstormed, he kept returning to the issue of food waste, which historically affects more affluent neighborhoods.
He used the skills he gained in his AP computer science course, taught by LHS teacher Matthew Van Pelt, to create the interactive website and app, ResQFoods.com.
Agarwal shared that three of his classmates volunteered to help with ResQFood. LHS juniors Jack Liu, Parth Jain, and Armaan Mishra, are assisting with logistics, as well as food pick-ups and deliveries.
Current Collaborations
Since completing its first food pick-up in October, ResQFood has begun collaborating with different Livingston restaurants. Currently, Viva Guacamole, Blaze Pizza, Panera Bread, Bagel Nosh, Paris Baguette, Seymour’s Cafe, Sombrero Tacoria, and Bubbakoo’s Burritos all collabo- rate with ResQFood to alleviate food waste throughout town.
Table to Table
After Agarwal spent the summer building the ResQFood website and developing a standard operating procedure for food donations, he and his volunteers realized they could benefit from the assistance of a larger organization. Agarwal then partnered with the community based food rescue program Table to Table.
Heather Thompson, CEO of Table to Table, shared that many local restaurants were eager and willing to donate unused food but “wanted to make sure the donations were being coordinated through an established nonprofit.” The organization was able to help ResQFood register as a nonprofit, obtain a federal tax ID, and provide volunteers with certified volunteer hours.
After her first conversation with Agarwal, Thompson said she felt inspired.
“When younger people like Veer are paying attention to issues in their own communities, like food waste and food insecurity – and actually taking initiative to do something about it,” she said, “I feel like our future is going to be okay.”
Moving Forward
Agarwal explained that in the upcoming calendar year, he hopes ResQFood will be able to “corner the Livingston market” to significantly lessen the town’s food waste. He aims to increase the frequency of pickups from restaurants.
“Once we capture Livingston, we plan to expand to neighboring towns like Millburn and go from there,” he said.
He shared that he is especially invigorated by the enthusiasm of those younger than him.
“We’re passing the baton to the younger generation and we’re sure the cause of food rescue is in safe hands,” he said. “We’re invigorating high schoolers to engage with the community and to start doing so at an early age so they can continue to do so.”
Thompson discussed that while the collaboration is just beginning, there is room for near limitless growth.
“We want to ramp up our volunteer base and grow our food donors in Livingston and beyond,” she said.
“We also see ResQFood as a model for food rescue clubs in high schools throughout New Jersey.”
Thompson shared that one of her goals is for children and teenagers “to grow up aware of the challenges of food waste and food insecurity, but also feeling like they can create solutions, which is what Veer and his ResQFood volunteers are doing.”
Agarwal pointed out that volunteering for one to two hours each week can make a significant difference in donating food that may have otherwise gone in the trash.
“Especially now that many students are getting their driver’s licenses, they can use their newfound independence to do good,” he said.
ResQFood is not solely for high school students. Anyone can volunteer to help. For additional information, email info@tabletotable.com or visit resqfoods.com.
“One way people can help is, once they eat dinner somewhere, to ask the manager if there’s an opportunity to donate through ResQFoods,” Agarwal said. “We’re grateful for any and all food. If they have anything to give at the end of the day they might otherwise throw away, we’d happily take that.”
Credit: West Essex Tribune