Blog > Fighting Food Insecurity in Southern California - Andrea Howry with Food Forward
Fighting Food Insecurity in Southern California - Andrea Howry with Food Forward
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Join Paul Ward as he learns about an incredible nonprofit that redistributes produce to food insecure people in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. Andrea Howry shares how she started volunteering with Food Forward and the logistics behind redistributing over 227 types of produce from backyard farms, wholesale and farmers’ markets. Food Forward rescues produce that would otherwise go to waste and works with many organizations to redistribute enough food to meet the nutritional needs of over 220,000 people.
Learn more about Food Forward, including how to volunteer at a picking event!
Watch the full episode complete with charts and guides on Paul’s YouTube channel.
What you’ll learn in this week’s episode:
0:00 Introducing Andrea Howry from Food Forward, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending food insecurity in southern California
0:26 Thanks to our sponsor, Opus Escrow
0:27 What is a backyard harvest coordinator with Food Forward?
1:17 Is one tree enough to warrant a call from Food Forward?
1:45 Does Food Forward accept canned goods?
2:06 How does fresh produce get distributed by Food Forward?
2:47 What are the sources of fresh produce?
4:28 Where would the food go if hungry families weren’t being served?
5:14 Food insecurity is a huge problem.
5:52 Where did the idea for Food Forward come from?
6:59 Is Food Forward a combination of employees and volunteers?
7:38 Are there repeat donors?
8:09 Is harvesting from just orchards or gardens, too?
8:33 What happens to crops that don’t have a long shelf life?
9:33 What happens to donations like lemons?
10:18 How does Food Forward find volunteers?
11:59 How much food is prevented from going into the landfill?
13:06 How does food get distributed by Food Forward?
13:58 How big is Food Forward?
14:58 What is the role of a Farmers’ Market Coordinator
15:16 Is a church a hunger relief organization?
15:28 Does Food Forward distribute directly to families?
15:34 What’s in store for the future of Food Forward?
16:32 How can people get in touch with Food Forward to donate produce?
17:21 What does a picking event entail?
17:47 How Andrea Howry started volunteering with Food Forward.
18:51 Redistributing 227 different types of produce to food insecure people.
20:10 Thank you to Andrea for sharing her time and knowledge with the Farm Talk audience.
Have ideas for future episodes? We’d love to answer your questions – leave a comment! For any home buying or home selling needs in the Ventura County area of California, please reach out to Paul@HomeAndRanchTeam.com.
A special THANK YOU to our sponsors! 15 Minutes with Paul Ward would not be possible without the support of our sponsors, Opus Escrow and Community West Bank. Supporting our sponsors ensures 15 Minutes with Paul Ward can provide listeners with the best possible episodes.

Paul Ward- INTRO (00:01):
In this episode, we’re gonna be talking about what happens to all of that extra food and produce that nobody eats.
Paul Ward (00:10):
Hi, it’s Paul Ward and welcome to another edition of Farm Talk. I’m excited, today we are in Ventura, California and we are talking to Andrea Howry with Food Forward. Andrea, welcome to the show.
Andrea Howry (00:21):
Thank you very much.
Paul Ward (00:23):
And of course, we wanna thank our sponsor, Opus Escrow. So, you are a Backyard Harvest coordinator with Food Forward. What is a Backyard Harvest Coordinator?
Andrea Howry (00:35):
Well, what we do is we go to people’s backyards, and we harvest whatever fruit they can’t use. So if they have a lemon tree, if they have an orange tree, if they have a tangerine tree, and they’re not using the fruit for their own purposes. Their neighbors are tired of getting the surplus. They’ll give us a call and we will either pick it ourselves or ask them to pick it for us, and then we will distribute it to hunger Relief Organizations in Ventura County. We are based in North Hollywood, so a lot of our efforts are in Los Angeles County, but we do have an office in Ventura County, and we work with about 64 different hunger relief organizations in the county.
Paul Ward (01:17):
Okay. So, if I have one tree, is that enough to call you or do I need a few more fruit trees than that?
Andrea Howry (01:25):
One tree is pretty good, as long as it has about 200 pieces of fruit on it, we’ll come out and get it. We don’t use ladders. SSo,with our pickers and our extension poles, we can get about 16 feet up, but if you have a 30-foot tree, there’s gonna be a lot of fruit that’s left for the birds up there.
Paul Ward (01:43):
Gotcha. And if I have canned goods too, do you guys take that if I have canned goods?
Andrea Howry (01:49):
We don’t take canned goods. We don’t take dairy; we don’t take meat. We specialize only in fresh produce. So, it’s not only fruit, it’s also if you have a small garden. If you have excess lettuce or excess carrots, we will do that as well.
Paul Ward (02:06):
Okay. And the food is going to different organizations that then distribute to those that are hungry. How does that all work exactly?
Andrea Howry (02:17):
We give to Hunger Relief Organizations and then they give directly to families. We don’t work one-on-one with families at all. We do give it to organizations that distribute them. There are some that are Ruben Castro Charities Community Action. They deal with hundreds of families a week. And then there are some very small ones. There’s one that just opened in Ojai that is basically not much more than a community refrigerator. We give them food as well.
Paul Ward (02:45):
So small and large.
Andrea Howry (02:47):
Very much so.
Paul Ward (02:48):
Are you only getting your produce from backyards, or do you have other sources of food as well?
Andrea Howry (02:55):
So, we were founded in 2009, and so we’re (having) our 15th anniversary next year. In that time, we have redistributed 320 million pounds of food.
Paul Ward (03:07):
Wow. That’s a lot.
Andrea Howry (03:07):
That is a lot. Not all of it came from Backyard Harvest or came from backyard trees. We do work with farmers markets. There are 10 in Los Angeles Count and five in Ventura County that we will go to at the end of the harvest. I’m sorry, at the end of the market, we will ask them if they wanna take their produce back with them that didn’t sell, or if they wanna give it to us. A lot of them just wanna give it to us.
Paul Ward (03:32):
Really?
Andrea Howry (03:32):
And then that goes to food relief organizations as well, hunger Relief Organizations. Then we also work with the downtown Los Angeles Wholesale Produce market.
Paul Ward (03:46):
Okay.
Andrea Howry (03:47):
And that’s the driver for Food Forward these days. We will pick up millions of pounds of food there, and then take it back to our warehouse at Bell and then break down those pallets and get them to hunger relief agencies in Los Angeles County. We also take that food out to other states. Tere are six other states that we work with. Tribal Nations in New Mexico and Oklahoma.
Paul Ward (04:15):
Okay. Oh, wow.
Andrea Howry (04:16):
It sounds like we’re, you know, burning a lot of diesel getting it out there. But what we are saving in terms of the environment, what we are rescuing and keeping out of landfills makes us a carbon negative nonprofit organization.
Paul Ward (04:28):
Interesting. And all this food would just basically go into the landfill if you are not distributing it; and hungry families are being served. It’s kind of like a “twofer,” right? It’s like there’s two benefits to the organization. You’re saving food that’s gonna just go to waste and you’re feeding those that don’t have enough.
Andrea Howry (04:49):
Exactly. I think of it actually too, with a third benefit, and that is that not only are we not wasting the food, but we’re keeping it out of the landfill. So, we have an environmental impact where we have an impact on helping those who are food insecure. Meaning that they don’t necessarily know where their next meal is coming from. Oh, and we’re saving it from just rotting on the ground. So yeah. Lots, lots of impact there.
Paul Ward (05:14):
And there are, I mean, you obviously, there’s homelessness is a crisis, but you don’t ever really think about hunger being another crisis. I mean, kids that can’t get their next meal can’t really learn in the classroom.
Andrea Howry (05:27):
Exactly. Exactly. It’s a huge problem and it shouldn’t be. You know, this sounds like such an easy, simple solution. Take the food that nobody wants, give it to people who need it. It sounds so simple, but really that is a very complex system that’s needed to make it equitable and just.
Paul Ward (05:53):
Where did the backyard harvesting idea come from? Because I mean, you know, if somebody has one tree that’s very different than working with farmer’s markets or working with wholesale distribution outfits. But, you know, it’s also kind of doing the very small as well as the very large. What’s the whole premise of, you know, coming out to pick one tree?
Andrea Howry (06:21):
It started with just that, and it’s a very fun story to tell. Our founder, Rick Nahmias, was living in San Fernando Valley, and he was frustrated by his neighbor’s tangerine tree (that) was dropping tangerines all over his yard, you know, it was just a mess. So, he went to his neighbor, and he said, “If I pick those tangerines and take them to a local food bank, would that be okay with you?” And Food Forward was born! He picked 800 pounds of tangerines off that one tree, and it just sparked an idea. It has now grown to, like I said, 320 million pounds of food that has been rescued and redistributed.
Paul Ward (06:58):
Wow! So, I would imagine, it’s a combination nonprofit organization, kind of a combination of employees as well as volunteers.
Andrea Howry (07:07):
Oh yes. We’re definitely volunteer based. I am one of four Backyard Harvest coordinators.
Paul Ward (07:13):
Okay. So, are you a volunteer?
Andrea Howry (07:15):
No, I’m on staff. So all four of us are on staff and we recruit volunteers, and we will have picks from anywhere from one person going out on their own, somebody who has been trained. We offer a one and a half hour training for how to be a pick leader, and everything from them going out and picking one tree to a group of as many as 50 people picking a large orchard.
Paul Ward (07:37):
Oh, wow. Then that tree or that orchard gets on the list, I would assume, for the following year?
Andrea Howry (07:44):
Yes, yes. We do keep track and we try to, you know, contact people the next year and say, “Hey, you ready for us to come out again?” We have a lot of repeat folks. And then we also just have a lot of new people who’ll call us, and they’ll hear about us somehow, you know, a lot on the web, find out about us through podcasts like this. Then we’ll make arrangements to go out and harvest. And then usually we’re both hooked.
Paul Ward (08:09):
And is it just orchards and trees, or are you doing like strawberries and bell peppers and fruits on the ground as well?
Andrea Howry (08:18):
Yes, a lot of those we do have some relationships with local farmers who will do what we call a, “Diy.” They’ll pick their own crops and then they’ll put them in our Food Forward boxes, and then we will go pick them up and take them to the two agencies.
Paul Ward (08:32):
Gotcha. Yeah. And then what about some fruits like avocados, typically when they’re picked, they’ve got a longer, you know, quote-unquote, “Shelf life.” Banana can last a little while, but maybe you get something like strawberries that, you know, they’re gonna start rotting in just a day or two. What do you do in that situation?
Andrea Howry (08:49):
I think a perfect example is what’s happening right now. We’re getting calls about peaches and nectarines, and they’re ripening. And stone fruit does not have a long shelf life. So we have to pick that fruit and get it out right away to an agency that has a distribution scheduled within that week, within just a few days if possible, maybe even that day or the next. We had a situation just last week where we had a donation of 850 pounds of avocados. And we went out and looked at them and boy, they were ready to go that day. So we found an agency and we helped them bag up that those avocados and got them out that day to families. So there was a lot of guacamole!
Paul Ward (09:32):
<Laugh>, and then you know, some crops people can use like bananas and avocados and peaches, but others like a lemon. That’s not very exciting. What do you do when a farmer says, “I don’t want these 50 lemon trees.” Or what do people do with lemons? It’s not like you’re gonna peel it and eat it.
Andrea Howry (09:52):
Right, right. We do give those to the agencies. It’s up to the agencies to tell folks. You can give them some ideas. Sometimes we will give them recipes along with the lemons that they can pass on to folks. But lemons are used very popularly for marinades, also lemonade. They’re great with kids’ organizations, and boys’ and girls’ clubs. They will make lemonade and everybody’s pretty happy at the end of that day.
Paul Ward (10:17):
Very cool. So how do you get your volunteers?
Andrea Howry (10:21):
A lot of people find us through our website, foodforward.org. We do have a calendar there that shows picks where we are looking for volunteers. They will sign up, they’ll join us. Some people enjoy it so much then that they will go on and take the hour and a half training and become a pick leader. Same with farmer’s markets. People will see us at farmer’s markets and they’ll wanna take the training, become a glean team leader. We welcome volunteers. They are the backbone of what we do. We are a volunteer-led organization. And it was interesting, during the pandemic, we didn’t have large picks because, you know, it just wasn’t feasible. So instead, some families would adopt different properties and they would go out weekend after weekend after weekend and pick maybe 10 acres of lemons, tangerines, or whatever. And because of that, the amount of food that we were able to rescue through our backyard harvest arm surpassed what we had done in years past. So it was actually efficient.
Paul Ward (11:30):
Interesting.
Andrea Howry (11:31):
It was much more efficient. And it was during the pandemic that everything picked up with the produce market in downtown Los Angeles. The numbers just skyrocketed. And we’d be having shipments that would be canceled because, you know, all the restaurants were closed in Las Vegas. Well, what are you gonna do with all those melons that were gonna go to those buffets? So, we were able to redistribute those. And a lot of people got a lot of good food during the pandemic. We are proud of that.
Paul Ward (12:00):
That’s awesome. So how much food do you think you’re keeping outta the landfills?
Andrea Howry (12:02):
Well, the estimate is that 38% of what is in landfills is food that has been wasted. And so, you know, who knows how much of that we’re keeping out, but like I said, we’re rescuing so much of that fruit that we are actually carbon negative. So…
Paul Ward (12:19):
Wow. That’s such a staggering number. If you think about all the energy and labor that went into actually growing that fruit from a seed. Right. And then you fertilize it and water it and, you know, keep the weeds down and till the soil and pay somebody to pick it and then put it in the plastic or cardboard box and set it out and it just goes into the landfill. It’s just a crazy thought.
Andrea Howry (12:45):
It’s just ridiculous, isn’t it? Think of all of that waste. And you know, frankly, folks, when you’re at your refrigerator and you see something that’s going to waste in the back of it, think about that too, because the end result is the same. You know, it’s just not getting eaten. And that’s what we’re trying to prevent. Is the food waste. And then help people who are food insecure.
Paul Ward (13:06):
How do you distribute so much food and how do you determine exactly where it goes? I mean, there’s gotta be certain areas that have a greater need than other areas. I would assume, right?
Andrea Howry (13:18):
Yes, definitely. The food deserts is we’re trying to make that a big priority in what we do. And like I said, there are approximately 64 agencies in Ventura County that we do work with. And there are well over a hundred in Los Angeles County. And then, like I said, too, speaking of food deserts, the Navajo Tribal Nation in New Mexico, and then the Cherokee Tribal Nation in Oklahoma. We also distribute there.
Paul Ward (13:54):
Wow! So you get the food from Los Angeles to Oklahoma? Yes, we do.
Andrea Howry (13:57):
We do.
Paul Ward (13:57):
How big is Food Forward? How many people work there?
Andrea Howry (13:59):
When I started four years ago, we had approximately, it was about 30 people, and now we’re closing in on 50. So we are a growing, thriving organization and it’s just a joy to be a part of it.
Paul Ward (14:12):
But the volunteer count is in the hundreds or thousands?
Andrea Howry (14:16):
Oh, definitely. Definitely. Yes. In fact, last year alone, I believe we had well over a thousand volunteer led events.
Paul Ward (14:25):
Wow! A thousand events. A thousand. So that’s like three events a day.
Andrea Howry (14:30):
Oh, yes, yes. When you figure, I mean, we’re at farmer’s markets almost daily. And in fact, more than one most days. And then we’ll have backyard harvests like this, and then we’ll have the large picks where we’ll have 20, 30, 40 volunteers. So yeah, we’re getting a lot of people to help with this cause.
Paul Ward (14:49):
So, the farmer’s market coordinator would be different than the Backyard Harvest coordinator?
Andrea Howry (14:54):
Yes, definitely. Yeah.
Paul Ward (14:56):
They would make their rounds at certain farmer’s markets and then the farmers would know who to give access to and they’d take it off to your distribution center.
Andrea Howry (15:06):
That’s exactly right, yes. A lot of times the Hunger Relief Organizations will come to the farmer’s market, and we’ll give it directly to them there.
Paul Ward (15:16):
And so, a church would be considered a hunger relief organization, is that kind of (an idea?)
Andrea Howry (15:20):
Yeah. It’s a church food pantry. Exactly.
Paul Ward (15:21):
Food pantry. Yes. Okay. And all kinds of different food pantries.
Andrea Howry (15:25):
Many.
Paul Ward (15:26):
And is Food Forward distributing directly to families too? Or kind of- you’re acting as the middleman?
Andrea Howry (15:31):
We are the middleman, exactly. Yes.
Paul Ward (15:34):
Gotcha. So, with you know, LA County and Ventura County kind of being the heart of the organization and now you’re expanding to the tribal areas, are there plans for Food Forward to branch out into other areas? I mean, the food desert and the food shortage issue is nationwide.
Andrea Howry (15:52):
Definitely. And that is something that we’re looking at to make sure that we are just, and we are equitable and where we are giving the food. And that’s one thing we’re really going to be concentrating on over the next three years, is where is the food going? Is it being used in the most efficient manner? And are we helping those who are most in need?
Paul Ward (16:13):
And then perhaps expanding to other counties and other states as well, that kind of thinking?
Andrea Howry (16:18):
Possibly. I think what we really wanna do is make sure that what we’re doing now is the best that we can do. So I think that’s making sure that we are efficient and we’re doing the right thing, which we know we are, but you can always improve.
Paul Ward (16:32):
Yes. And if somebody has a tangerine tree or a lemon tree or an orange tree, how would they get in touch with you or the organization to see if they wanna donate some food?
Andrea Howry (16:44):
Check out foodforward.org, and there’s a section there on donating fruit, and there’s a section on volunteering. So we could use everybody’s help in registering their trees and letting us know that they have produce that is in excess and we want people to share the abundance, and that we can get that fruit and we can get it to people who are food insecure. And same with volunteering. If you’re interested in joining us on a pick, and they are fun, just sign up and come out to an event and we’re pretty sure you’ll be hooked. Just like I was, well, eight years ago when I started volunteering.
Paul Ward (17:21):
Wow. And I would think that you’re making, I mean, these people are volunteers. They’re not employees, so you make these into events. If you’re gonna go pick, you know, 50 lemon trees and get all scratched up and whatnot, it’s kind of turning into kind of a fun environment.
Andrea Howry (17:38):
We try to make it fun, as fun as we can. And I think looking at our track record and the number of volunteers who come back, I think we do a pretty good job with that.
Paul Ward (17:46):
That’s awesome. How did you get involved in this?
Andrea Howry (17:49):
My son needed community service hours, so he and I signed up on the Food Forward site and we went out and I just fell in love. I was on the inside of an orange tree in somebody’s backyard. I was kind of in there. They had groomed the inside of it. It was very pruned. It was quite nice. And I went in, it smelled so good, it smelled like oranges. And I looked up and there was a little bird’s nest, and I peeked inside and there were two bird’s eggs, and I was hooked. I said, “I’m never gonna have a better Saturday morning than this.”
Paul Ward (18:18):
That’s awesome.
Andrea Howry (18:19):
And my son stuck with it for a little while too, but that was eight years ago and I’m still going strong, so.
Paul Ward (18:24):
Wow. So, you volunteered and then now you’re the official Backyard Harvest coordinator.
Andrea Howry (18:29):
Exactly. I’ve been working with Food Forward about four years now. And before that I was the volunteer. So, I’ve been on staff for four years and it’s just a very rewarding great job.
Paul Ward (18:40):
Do you still get to stick your head up in an orange tree or are you too busy organizing the other volunteers?
Andrea Howry (18:45):
No, we organize them, but I try every single time to try to stick my head in a tree. For sure.
Paul Ward (18:50):
That’s awesome. Being the backyard coordinator is very different than somebody who’s working at the farmer’s market. Which is different than somebody who’s working with the wholesalers that have, I would think, hundreds of thousands or millions of pounds of excess food.
Andrea Howry (19:06):
Millions of pounds is right. And last year alone the wholesale team redistributed 227 different varieties of produce. I didn’t even know there were 227 varieties of produce out there. And it’s just amazing to think of that everything from an orange to a strawberry, to dragon fruit, to passion fruit, to a cherimoya. I mean, it’s just all over the board what they’re able to get. And if you ever have the chance to visit the downtown produce market, it is open to the public. And it is a fascinating place. It’s just, there’s movement everywhere. There’s pallet jacks, there’s people are just buying and selling. And it’s, it’s absolutely fascinating to see.
Paul Ward (19:47):
At the wholesale level.
Andrea Howry (19:49):
At the wholesale level. Yes. And so restaurants will come and they will buy, and then what doesn’t sell, you know, again, you get welcome to donate it to Food Forward and we will redistribute.
Paul Ward (20:01):
Because it’s just gonna go in the landfill.
Andrea Howry (20:03):
Yeah. Otherwise, it will. Exactly.
Paul Ward (20:05):
Because it can’t, it’s not gonna save, it’s gonna go to waste.
Andrea Howry (20:07):
It’s not gonna go anywhere else. Exactly.
Paul Ward (20:09):
Makes a lot of sense. So Andrea Howry, I wanna thank you for being our guest on this edition of Farm Talk. We’ve loved having you and learning all about Food Forward and what it is to be a Backyard Harvest Coordinator.
Andrea Howry (20:20):
Thank you very much. I appreciate this very much.
Paul Ward (20:23):
Absolutely. And of course, we wanna thank our sponsor, Opus Escrow. Be sure to tune in next time for another edition of Farm Talk.