Low-income Americans need more help getting enough to eat, but not much of the food retailers that sell groceries could potentially donate is given away. Only 13% of it ends up at food banks, according to a 2026 report produced by ReFED, a nonprofit that studies and tries to prevent food waste.

The rest is composted; turned into animal feed, biofuels and other industrial products; sold at a deep discount shortly before its use-by date; or disposed of in landfills and incinerators.

Given that millions of Americans are losing access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits and grocery prices are rising, why isn’t more food sent to food banks?

I’m a supply chain scholar who studies food banks. I conduct research about how food retailers and food banks work together to save food that would otherwise be wasted. I’ve found that those retailers don’t regularly tell food banks how much food they have available. That lack of communication, combined with capacity constraints at food banks, limits the volume of what food banks can get from supermarkets and similar stores.

No way to plan with precision

Food banks are large-scale warehouses that procure, store and distribute donated food from businesses, including supermarkets. Food pantries, by contrast, are smaller nonprofits that distribute food directly to those in need, such as faith-based soup kitchens and community food assistance programs.

Food banks are largely responsible for picking up food that retailers wish to donate and would otherwise discard. The donated food is then distributed to food pantries, where it is ultimately provided........

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