How Barbara Bronstein Built Second Servings Houston at 60: Rescuing Surplus Food to Fight Hunger and Waste
In this @SilverDisobedience Perception Dynamics Podcast host Dian Griesel interviews Barbara Bronstein, founder of Second Servings Houston, who launched a food rescue organization at age 60 after seeing large amounts of prepared food discarded at charity events. After learning food banks wouldn’t accept cooked food, she connected events with a local soup kitchen, researched food recovery nationwide, and formed a 501(c)(3) with pro bono legal help, grants, and a pilot with a Meals on Wheels program using idle refrigerated trucks.
Second Servings now operates as a logistics-focused model with seven refrigerated vans, making 30–40 same-day pickups and deliveries daily from events, hotels, commissaries, and grocery stores like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. The organization runs free Pop-Up Grocery Stores, distributes food through local nonprofits, relies on grants, individuals, and sponsors, and emphasizes legal protections under the Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act while addressing Houston’s high food insecurity and environmental impact of food waste.
Learn more about the amazing work being done: https://secondservingshouston.org/
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I’m Dian Griesel aka @SilverDisobedience to my hundreds of thousands of monthly blog readers. You can learn more about me here: https://diangriesel.com
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