Thanks to Noelle Botti, for the post
We Don’t Waste started with one man, a station wagon, and a simple idea: food should go to people, not landfills, and it should be accessible to all. In 2009, founder Arlan Preblud began picking up surplus food from restaurants and caterers and delivering it straight to nonprofits. Seventeen years later, that effort has grown into Colorado’s largest independent food recovery organization.
We Don’t Waste’s mission is to increase food access and protect the planet by rescuing and repurposing food, while educating and advocating to increase food security and decrease food waste. In 2025, the organization recovered more than 30 million servings of food, more than half of it fresh produce, dairy, and protein. Through more than 150 nonprofit partners and 85 of its own Mobile Food Markets, pop-up, farmers-market-style distributions in communities that lack reliable access to food, We Don’t Waste helps put surplus food in the hands of families across the Denver Metro area, always at no cost. Additionally, by keeping food that would otherwise have been thrown away out of landfills, this work prevented more than 13 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent of keeping 1,302 cars off the road for a year.
We Don’t Waste also believes lasting change starts with education. Through food waste audits, cooking classes, and partnerships with local classrooms, the organization is teaching the next generation how to waste less. Jenny Martin, Director of Development, will be here on Sunday to answer any questions you may have.
