Welcome to Food Cowboy

Supply Chain Rescue

You are a food bank manager, it's past midnight, and you can't sleep. Christmas was weeks ago and donations have dried up but you still have families to feed. Then, you get a text message asking whether you can open your warehouse early to accept three tons of carrots that were rejected by a distributor because they weren't straight enough.

You smile and reply "OK."

Supermarket Rescue

You are at the supermarket when your phone buzzes with a text message: "Can you take three crates of apples to the fire station near your house?" The produce manager knows they won't sell so she's posted them on Food Cowboy. You press "OK."

Tomorrow, kids will be able to pick up breakfast on their way to school. Later that evening, you see a thank you note from the principal on your Facebook wall and, the next time you go shopping, the checkout clerk hands you a coupon for a free latte at Starbucks.

Restaurant Rescue

You start walking to the freezer as soon as you see the linen van pull up to the curb. As the driver carries in fresh tablecloths, you carry out trays of surplus inventory from the past two nights-wholesome food that never got served.

The exchange made, the driver presses "Pick Up Complete" on the food rescue app on his phone. In a minute, it will tell him where along his route to drop off the food and, as soon as he does, the tax documents will be e-mailed to your bookkeeper.

Event Rescue

It's been a very long day but finally it's over. The wedding went off without a hitch and everyone had a good time-only one thing left to do before you make your escape: You give the caterer the nod. He takes a quick inventory, enters a few numbers on his phone, and presses "Ready for Pick Up." Volunteers from the local shelter have been on call to pick up any unserved food. It's Saturday night and they have been busy. He can see on his phone, for example, that one van is on Restaurant Row and the other is at the stadium, where the game has just ended.

Choosing a Food Cowboy-certified caterer didn't cost more but it did make the evening end just right.

Food Cowboy is a new social venture enterprise that combines a Fair Trade-type food rescue brand with free online tools to help businesses and charities work together to route wholesome surplus food to people in need and food waste to composters and alternative energy producers. It includes an online exchange, routing and tracking tools, and food safety and quality control features. Food Cowboy can even keep track of the miles volunteers and truckers travel to donate food and issue them rewards points redeemable at local businesses. With Food Cowboy, the fight against hunger and waste becomes a community effort. Food Cowboy goes live this summer. To learn how your organization or community can join the food rescue movement, contact us today at roger@foodcowboy.com or (202) 677-5601.

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