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Food Rescue Grant Program

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The Food Rescue Grant Program

The Food Rescue Grant Program (FRGP) is a new state program focused on sourcing Washington-grown foods that are at risk of becoming food waste and distributing them to hunger relief organizations throughout the state. It began in State Fiscal Year 2026.
 

HOW THE FOOD RESCUE GRANT PROGRAM BEGAN

The FRGP is the state-funded iteration of the Washington Commodities Donation Grant Program (WCDGP), a program that was funded by the Climate Commitment Act from January to June of 2025. An RFP process selected 3 organizations in Washington to implement the WCDGP: EastWest Food Rescue, Feeding Washington, and Northwest Harvest. Despite its short duration, the WCDGP had a notable impact and generated positive feedback from receiving organizations, farmers, and the grantees. WCDGP program data and reports can be found here.

WSDA Food Assistance channeled the success of the WCDGP into a proposal to fund an ongoing food rescue program, now called the Food Rescue Grant Program. The purpose of the FRGP is to procure WA-grown produce, protein, dairy, and grains that are at risk of becoming food waste, for distribution to WA hunger relief organizations. The FRGP has the same goals as the Climate Commitment Act-funded WCDGP, but reporting requirements have been significantly reduced, the program length has been extended, and dairy was added as an eligible product category.
Potato Distribution. Photo courtesy of Feeding Washington.
Haki Farmers Collective provided produce to the WCDGP. Photo courtesy of Northwest Harvest. 
Volunteers at Food Lifeline sorting apples. Photo courtesy of Feeding Washington.

FRGP PROGRAM DETAILS

  • WSDA FA awarded $4 million in funding to three organizations – EastWest Food Rescue, Feeding Washington, and Northwest Harvest – to implement the program for SFY26 (July 1 2025-June 30 2026). The program is currently funded through SFY27.

  • Awarded organizations source food at risk of becoming food waste directly from producers, or through a local food distributor. All food must be grown in Washington State and can be purchased or donated.

  • Food is then delivered to hunger relief organizations throughout the state, for distribution to individuals experiencing food insecurity. Food quality must be acceptable for distribution to clients.

  • The program award covers organizational costs associated with operating the program, transportation costs, food costs, and pass-thru costs to producers or distributors.

  • A minimum of 60% of awarded funding must be spent on food.

PROGRAM DATA


Food Rescue Grant Program
Data will be updated on a quarterly basis.
7/1/25-12/31/25:
  • 7,732,576 Lbs. of food sourced.
  • 7,376,612 Lbs. of food distributed.
  • 6,565 Metric Tons (MT) of CO2 equivalent reduced through food rescue.
  • Food was rescued from 40 unique producers.
  • Product highlights: Ground beef, pears, and squash

Washington Commodities Donation Grant Program
1/1/25-6/30/25:

Food Rescue and Donation Resources

Interested in learning more about food rescue work in Washington State, or about how you can donate foods to hunger relief organizations? Check out the links below: