Hunger is Big Business in the U.S.

Delving more deeply into the world of hunger and food distribution recently, I’ve begun to realize that there are more organizations than I thought that are focused on connecting excess food to hungry people.

“How nice,” I thought. There are people out there really trying to ensure that everyone's basic human right of access to nutritional food is met.

Then the other day I came across this article which talks about a food-aid organization called the Food Donation Collection (FDC). After reading, and doing a little Internet digging, I’m convinced that no matter how dire the basic human need, if there’s money to be made food corporations can’t be far behind.

FDC is a for-profit business whose clients—or “donor partners” as they call them—include YUM Brands (Pizza Hut, KFC, Taco Bell, Long John Silver’s, A&W) and Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster, Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse among others).

The way FDC makes money is simple, but devious. They find food donation charities to take excess food from its clients' restaurants (and I use the term "restaurant" very loosely) and then they help the corporations file paperwork to receive a government tax deduction worth half of the product's appreciated value. As its fee, FDC keeps a portion of the rebate.

Doing a little more digging, I find that FDC’s website cites the passage of Section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code in 1976. The provision’s passage:

“provides that wholesome food that is properly saved, donated to an approved agency and properly receipted is eligible for an enhanced tax deduction. This enhanced deduction is equal to ½ of the donated food’s appreciated value, with the limitation that the total deduction cannot exceed twice the donated food’s basis cost. This incremental tax deduction is calculated from the donated food’s fair market value and basis food and labor cost.”

This provision was extended three times by our most recent President Bush. First in 2005 by the Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act (KETRA), which extended the provision to December 31, 2006 and expanded the tax deduction to all business entities; then in 2006 by the Pension Protection Act, which extended the provisions of KETRA through December 31, 2007; and then finally in 2008 by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act which extends KETRA through December 31, 2009.

(As a side note, the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act also exempts these corporations from liability arising from their donation of "apparently wholesome food," meaning "food that meets all quality and labeling standards imposed by Federal, State, and local laws and regulations even though the food may not be readily marketable due to appearance, age, freshness, grade, size, surplus, or other conditions.")

So much for standing behind your product and ensuring food safety, huh?

Also on its website, FDC has testimonials from hunger relief charities across the county. One from the San Diego Rescue Mission reads (with my added nutrition information taken from the companies' websites italicized):

“The donations of pizza (standard 12” Medium pepperoni pizza = 88 total grams of fat) from Pizza Hut, and chicken wings (each wing = 5 grams of total fat), rice, mashed potatoes (without gravy, 3 grams of total fat per individual serving), corn on the cob and macaroni & cheese (9 grams of total fat per individual serving) from KFC has increased the nutritional value of the food we [have] available.”

Really? Increasing the nutritional value of what they serve with pizza and chicken wings? Bologna.

Lets call this what it is, people.

It is an attempt by huge, multi-million dollar food corporations to dump their high-fat, nutrition-deficient excess—possibly facilitated by the nation's largest food donation organization and with the support of the federal government—into the mouths of our nation’s hungry families. And in doing so, these corporations receive a tax deduction worth up to half of the product’s appreciated value.

The KETRA provision expires at the end of this year.  Lets start telling our congressmen and representatives now that we want to close the tax loophole that allows big corporations to profit by dumping their unmarketable food into our soup kitchens and food pantries.

Instead, we should demand that farmers who donate their excess fruits, veggies, nuts, grains, cheese, milk, etc. and smaller family owned restaurants and markets are given a similar incentive to benefit from helping feed the county’s hungry families.

(Photo credit: macrofarm on Flickr)