Kroger's Food Relief Efforts Just Won Some Major Accolades

Over 34 million people struggle with food insecurity, according to Feeding America, a problem that has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. People of color, especially, are disproportionately affected. The site estimates that 108 billion pounds of food are wasted each year in the United States, even though it could be providing nearly 130 billion meals. While there are ways you can fight hunger as an individual, some of the biggest efforts come from businesses. Kroger, for example, has a program that aims to reduce waste and provide meals to people in need.

The Zero Hunger | Zero Waste program was started in 2017, as per Kroger's website. The program aims to utilize foods that would otherwise be thrown away by redistributing them to food banks, making food more accessible to more people. It also promotes sustainability through reduced water waste, cutting back on greenhouse gas emissions, and slashing energy consumption. Thanks to the grocery chain's efforts over the last five years, it has been awarded an honor for 2023.

For the fourth consecutive year, Kroger has been named as one of 2023's "Most Responsible [American] Companies," as decided by Newsweek. The grocery chain has reportedly donated 500 million pounds of food to food banks over the past five years, which equates to roughly 2.3 billion meals (via Cision PR Newswire). It has also raised roughly $45 million to support systemic change for food recovery through its Zero Hunger | Zero Waste program. According to the program's website, they've also committed to upping the goal to 3 billion meals by 2025.

The award was given to Kroger based on company performance in terms of environmental, social, and corporate categories. Newsweek also conducted surveys where people could provide insight into their perceptions of companies. The awards are divided into 14 different industries and given to the top 500 most responsible United States companies. Kroger ranked 78^th overall on the list, at 2^nd in the retail category, just behind Lowe's.