An organization combating food waste in Michiana is expanding its sustainability efforts. Cultivate Food Rescue says it’s installed a solar canopy at its South Bend facility.
The organization believes it will reduce energy consumption by 67 percent, saving $33,000 a year. That will free up more resources to rescue food for local residents. The project received funding from South Bend’s Energy & Solar Savings Initiative, along with federal tax incentives.
In a press release, Cultivate Food Rescue says the solar canopy is the last step in its three-and-a-half-year capital campaign. That also included a cold storage facility, a volunteer meal packaging facility in Elkhart and the renovation of its original building.
Cultivate says these improvements will put it in a position to rescue up to 20 million pounds of food every year that would otherwise go to waste.
