From Landfill to Table
In 2025, food banks globally prevented approximately 500,000 tons of food, which would otherwise have been discarded as waste, from ending up in landfills. This information comes from the annual report of the Global Foodbanking Network (GFN), an organization that unites entities in over 50 countries.
Partnerships with farms, processing plants, and large retail chains played a crucial role in this effort. Through these channels, food banks acquire items that are unsold but perfectly fit for consumption, such as fruits and vegetables with minor imperfections, products nearing their expiration dates, and seasonal harvest surpluses.
Climate Impact
According to GFN estimates, rescuing half a million tons of food prevented the emission of approximately two million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. To put this in perspective, a comparable volume of emissions would be generated by about 473,000 passenger cars in a year. Thus, the work of food banks has proven to be not only a social endeavor but also a significant environmental tool.
“Every kilogram of food kept out of landfills is a kilogram that won’t decompose and release methane, nor will it require additional resources for disposal,” analysts from the network emphasized.
The Other Side of the Coin
However, behind the impressive figures of rescued food lies a less optimistic reality. In 2025, GFN food banks provided meals to 40.5 million people — an increase of 2.5 million from the previous year. In total, approximately two billion meals were distributed.
The organization attributes this rise in demand to several concurrent factors:
- cuts in government social assistance in a number of countries;
- sustained increases in food prices, which disproportionately affect low-income households; and
- geopolitical crises and armed conflicts, disrupting supply chains and exacerbating migration flows.
Ultimately, the growing volume of rescued food reflects not so much a logistical triumph as it does a deepening of food inequality.
A “Safety Net” for Vulnerable Communities
Commenting on the year’s results, GFN President and CEO Lisa Moon remarked:
“Food banks — always agile, responsive, and resilient — continued to serve as safety nets around the world, providing nourishing food to local communities despite the challenges.”
According to Moon, this local operational nature enables banks to respond swiftly to shifts in demand, ranging from the effects of inflation to sudden humanitarian crises.
What's Next
Experts point to a systemic contradiction: the more effectively food banks rescue products from destruction, the more they become reliant on the very existence of overproduction and irrational consumption. Without structural reforms in the agricultural sector and retail, the volume of “surpluses” will continue to grow, as will the number of people for whom a food bank remains their sole source of food.
Nevertheless, GFN emphasizes that in a world where global goals for reducing food waste and ending hunger are still far from being met, food banks are currently bridging the gap between excess and scarcity — literally transforming waste into billions of meals.
