Table to Table is New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue nonprofit, bridging the gap between food being wasted and people facing food insecurity. We bring rescued fresh, nutritious food to 276 community partners, including social service organizations, pantries, shelters, fresh produce markets and centralized distribution hubs. Food is provided free of charge. Through this, Table to Table touches a diversity of those in need, including families, children, veterans, and older adults, making good nutrition accessible while serving as a stimulus for other longer-term benefits. Since 1999 we have rescued more than 133,271 tons of nutritious food — enough for 266,542,863 million meals — and delivered it to our neighbors in need, saving over 612 metric tons of methane saved.
Editor’s note: This story originally appeared on TAPinto Ridgewood. Click here to read the entire story.
Surplus meals and snacks have been a welcome surprise at Ridgecrest Senior Apartments.
Ridgewood Public Schools and Table to Table, an organization that brings surplus meals to those in need, have teamed up to bring surplus meals and snacks from the district’s seven cafeterias into Ridgewood’s senior apartments.
“We are proud of this shared mission to eliminate food waste in our cafeterias and redirect those resources to those in need,” said Ridgewood Superintendent Dr. Mark Schwarz. It’s a powerful lesson for our students: when we work together, we can turn a logistical challenge into a community solution.”
Since the partnership began in October, 132 rescues have been completed, rescuing more than 10,000 pounds of surplus food.
“The impact that the Ridgewood School District is making for our neighbors in need as well as our planet is nothing short of amazing,” said Table to Table Executive Director Heather Thompson.
Table to Table is New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue nonprofit, bridging the gap between food being wasted and people facing food insecurity. We bring rescued fresh, nutritious food to 276 community partners, including social service organizations, pantries, shelters, fresh produce markets and centralized distribution hubs. Food is provided free of charge. Through this, Table to Table touches a diversity of those in need, including families, children, veterans, and older adults, making good nutrition accessible while serving as a stimulus for other longer-term benefits. Since 1999 we have rescued more than 133,271 tons of nutritious food — enough for 266,542,863 million meals — and delivered it to our neighbors in need, saving over 612 metric tons of methane saved.
North Jersey towns will host World Cup Fan Festival events this summer, officials announced Wednesday. Here’s how to get involved.
Editor’s note: This story originally appeared on Ridgewood Patch. Click here to read the entire article.
A host of World Cup soccer-related fan events will take place in North Jersey — including in Jersey City, Newark, Bergen County, and the Meadowlands region — this June and July, with live music, food, and more, officials announced Wednesday.
Events will take place at county parks, including Bergen County’s Overpeck Park and Secaucus’ Laurel Hill Park, as well as neighborhoods and downtowns.
Goya Foods, NJ Transit, and other agencies, companies, and charities will be involved in the events. Table to Table will serve as the “official food security partner,” educating attendees and allowing food contributions to the needy.
Table to Table is New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue nonprofit, bridging the gap between food being wasted and people facing food insecurity. We bring rescued fresh, nutritious food to 276 community partners, including social service organizations, pantries, shelters, fresh produce markets and centralized distribution hubs. Food is provided free of charge. Through this, Table to Table touches a diversity of those in need, including families, children, veterans, and older adults, making good nutrition accessible while serving as a stimulus for other longer-term benefits. Since 1999 we have rescued more than 133,271 tons of nutritious food — enough for 266,542,863 million meals — and delivered it to our neighbors in need, saving over 612 metric tons of methane saved.
Five Goya‑backed festival sites confirmed across Bergen, Essex and Hudson counties
Editor’s note: This story originally appeared on binje.com. Click here to read the entire article.
GOYA Presents Flag Cities on Wednesday took two more big steps to becoming the premier fan festival destination in the area for the World Cup with the announcement of two more host locations in marquee spots in Newark (Mulberry Commons) and Jersey City (Christopher Columbus Drive).
The locations join previously announced host locations in Secaucus (Laurel Hill Park), Bergen County (Overpeck Park), and East Rutherford (Main Street) — giving the event blanket coverage in North Jersey.
Each location will hold a one-day festival on the day before each of the five opening-round matches to be played at MetLife Stadium. The festivals, which will charge a small fee to enter, will have food and entertainment and plenty of soccer — both to play and to watch on big screen TVs.
Table to Table is New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue nonprofit, bridging the gap between food being wasted and people facing food insecurity. We bring rescued fresh, nutritious food to 276 community partners, including social service organizations, pantries, shelters, fresh produce markets and centralized distribution hubs. Food is provided free of charge. Through this, Table to Table touches a diversity of those in need, including families, children, veterans, and older adults, making good nutrition accessible while serving as a stimulus for other longer-term benefits. Since 1999 we have rescued more than 133,271 tons of nutritious food — enough for 266,542,863 million meals — and delivered it to our neighbors in need, saving over 612 metric tons of methane saved.
The announcement was made by Goya with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Jersey City Mayor James Solomon and Hudson County Executive Craig Guy.
Table to Table, New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue, will serve as the official food security partner, adding a critical philanthropic touchpoint that will serve to educate attendees, reduce food waste, and feed local neighbors in need.
Table to Table is New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue nonprofit, bridging the gap between food being wasted and people facing food insecurity. We bring rescued fresh, nutritious food to 276 community partners, including social service organizations, pantries, shelters, fresh produce markets and centralized distribution hubs. Food is provided free of charge. Through this, Table to Table touches a diversity of those in need, including families, children, veterans, and older adults, making good nutrition accessible while serving as a stimulus for other longer-term benefits. Since 1999 we have rescued more than 133,271 tons of nutritious food — enough for 266,542,863 million meals — and delivered it to our neighbors in need, saving over 612 metric tons of methane saved.
The Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce is doing its part to get the community involved in the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup by helping to host several fan festivals in North Jersey.
Five communities will participate in what is essentially a tour of events called Flag Cities 2026. The events are presented by Goya. The events will include live match broadcasts, food trucks, beer gardens, vendors, crafts, cultural activities, and more.
Table to Table is New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue nonprofit, bridging the gap between food being wasted and people facing food insecurity. We bring rescued fresh, nutritious food to 276 community partners, including social service organizations, pantries, shelters, fresh produce markets and centralized distribution hubs. Food is provided free of charge. Through this, Table to Table touches a diversity of those in need, including families, children, veterans, and older adults, making good nutrition accessible while serving as a stimulus for other longer-term benefits. Since 1999 we have rescued more than 133,271 tons of nutritious food — enough for 266,542,863 million meals — and delivered it to our neighbors in need, saving over 612 metric tons of methane saved.
School district-wide food rescue effort already has delivered 10,000 pounds of food that otherwise would have gone to waste
Editor’s note: This story originally appeared on binje.com. Click here for the story.
Here’s the challenging aspect of battling food insecurity: There are plenty of ways society can make a difference — and at little cost. It often just takes some out-of-the-box thinking to discover and implement them.
Table to Table, New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue organization, is offering a blueprint on how to do just that.
Table to Table and the Ridgewood Public School District have joined forces to reduce food waste and feed those in need for Bergen County’s first district-wide food rescue relationship.
“The impact that the Ridgewood School District is making for our neighbors in need as well as our planet is nothing short of amazing,” said Table to Table Executive Director Heather Thompson.
Table to Table is New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue nonprofit, bridging the gap between food being wasted and people facing food insecurity. We bring rescued fresh, nutritious food to 303 community partners, including social service organizations, pantries, shelters, fresh produce markets and centralized distribution hubs. Food is provided free of charge. Through this, Table to Table touches a diversity of those in need, including families, children, veterans, and older adults, making good nutrition accessible while serving as a stimulus for other longer-term benefits. Since 1999 we have rescued more than 133,271 tons of nutritious food — enough for 266,542,863 million meals — and delivered it to our neighbors in need, saving over 612 metric tons of methane saved.
Food security exists when all people, at all times have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Why food insecurity occurs is an issue with no easy answer, but the response to it is one that has fueled our 26-year mission: People need regular access to healthy, nutritious food.
The problem of food insecurity in New Jersey is a complex issue. Estimates are that nearly 3 billion pounds of food are wasted annually in the Garden State while 1.1 million residents, including 270,000 children, experience food insecurity. Determining the root causes of this widespread issue is also complex.
The New Jersey Office of the Food Security Advocate (OFSA) partnered with the Center for Nutrition & Health Impact to develop and implement a set of measures framed around the six dimensions of food security: Stability, utilization, access, agency, availability, and sustainability. OFSA recently published a report outlining what it found to be the reasons why food insecurity occurs. This data collection initiative informs the OFSA’s strategic planning efforts to ultimately guide cross-sector collaboration and policy development regarding food insecurity throughout New Jersey. Also, findings can serve as a baseline from which future progress can be measured.
Table to Table is New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue nonprofit, bridging the gap between food being wasted and people facing food insecurity. We bring rescued fresh, nutritious food to 303 community partners, including social service organizations, pantries, shelters, fresh produce markets and centralized distribution hubs. Food is provided free of charge. Through this, Table to Table touches a diversity of those in need, including families, children, veterans, and older adults, making good nutrition accessible while serving as a stimulus for other longer-term benefits. Since 1999 we have rescued more than 120,700 tons of nutritious food—enough for 241,400,846 million meals—and delivered it to our neighbors in need, saving over 544 metric tons of methane saved.
Editor’s note: This story originally aired on News 12 New Jersey. Click here for the story.
News 12 New Jersey ran a story about our food rescue partnership with the Bloomfield School District.
News 12 rode along with our Executive Director Heather Thompson as she rescued food from Watsessing Elementary School and brought it to a local food pantry.
Table to Table is New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue nonprofit, bridging the gap between food being wasted and people facing food insecurity. We bring rescued fresh, nutritious food to 303 community partners, including social service organizations, pantries, shelters, fresh produce markets and centralized distribution hubs. Food is provided free of charge. Through this, Table to Table touches a diversity of those in need, including families, children, veterans, and older adults, making good nutrition accessible while serving as a stimulus for other longer-term benefits. Since 1999 we have rescued more than 120,700 tons of nutritious food—enough for 241,400,846 million meals—and delivered it to our neighbors in need, saving over 544 metric tons of methane saved.
Editor’s note: Skip to the 35-minute mark for Heather Thompson’s interview.
The shutdown may be over, but the need remains.
The strain on the state’s emergency food system was felt across New Jersey during the 43-day federal government shutdown. Despite the shutdown ending, the need to support the system throughout the holiday season remains.
Table to Table Executive Director Heather Thompson spoke about the ongoing effect the shutdown had on the emergency food system and the 800,000 people it serves during a live interview on FOX 5 News in New York Monday.
“It’s important to recognize that just because the shutdown is over, the need is still present,” Thompson said. “It has been present. It unfortunately is a continuingly growing need.”
The effect of the seven-day funding halt of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was deeply felt in the Garden State.
“The impact of that was felt from multiple directions by so many of our neighbors,” Thompson said. “So they turned to their local food pantries for help. Those organizations that are really designed to be a last line of defense in general where can turn to bridge the [food] gap, all of a sudden, became a first line of defense. All of a sudden, people were relying on the support of these local pantries, these local community organizations because they simply had no where else to turn during that period of time.”
Giving Back This Holiday Season
Thompson encourages residents to reach out to their local food pantries to determine what they need.
“Every pantry is different, some have refrigerators, some don’t. Some need certain types of food depending on who they are feeding,” she said. “Reach out and see if they need extra help doing weekly distributions.”
Another tangible way to help is to volunteer with Table to Table. Volunteers can rescue healthy surplus food and deliver it to local community partners using the Table to Table I-Rescue App. Rescues take less than 1 hour and all the instructions are in the volunteer-driven app.
“Our volunteers by the end of the year will have rescued and delivered more than 2 million meals worth of fresh food, which is pretty incredible,” Thompson said.
Table to Table is New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue nonprofit, bridging the gap between food being wasted and people facing food insecurity. We bring rescued fresh, nutritious food to 303 community partners, including social service organizations, pantries, shelters, fresh produce markets and centralized distribution hubs. Food is provided free of charge. Through this, Table to Table touches a diversity of those in need, including families, children, veterans, and older adults, making good nutrition accessible while serving as a stimulus for other longer-term benefits. Since 1999 we have rescued more than 120,700 tons of nutritious food—enough for 241,400,846 million meals—and delivered it to our neighbors in need, saving over 544 metric tons of methane saved.
