Food Justice by bike in Colorado and beyond

Register of Initiatives in Pedal Powered Logistics - RIPPL #25

The RIPPL blog continues at the website RIPPL.BIKE

Photo credit: Boulder Food Rescue

Denver and Boulder, two American cities about 50km apart, are nestled at the feet of the Rocky mountains in Colorado. They have plenty in common, even in terms of cycling culture; for example, both cities host regular ‘Cruiser Rides’ which look like great fun (check them out here Denver Cruiser Ride, and here Boulder Cruiser Ride).

The two cities are also home to Food Rescue organisations Denver Food Rescue and Boulder Food Rescue, both of which use volunteer-ridden bikes with trailers to collect food which would otherwise be discarded from grocery stores. The same trailer bikes then deliver the food to projects which distribute free groceries to people on low-incomes.

A convoy of volunteers on the move in Denver. Photo credit: Denver Food Rescue

The model is different to the many food banks that distribute food; Food Rescue is about taking food from the source directly to the destination without a consolidation step in between. Doing it this way means that distribution of fresh, perishable food such as fruit and vegetables is possible, rather than only tinned or packaged food. It’s also a more affordable way of running an organisation, effectively eliminating the costs associated with running a consolidation centre.

This in turn allows those on low incomes access to the superior nutrition provided by fresh produce. The central idea behind food justice is that giving everyone access to good quality food will lead to favourable and more equitable social outcomes. Nationally, levels of food waste in the US are staggering; estimates range between 30 and 50%, depending upon the source. USDA aims to halve the amount of wasted food by 2030.


Against this backdrop, the Food Rescue concept appears to be spreading, with initiatives popping up neighbouring towns in Colorado and as far-afield as Wyoming and Seattle (some of which were set up by former Denver and Boulder volunteers). In response, Boulder Food Rescue has set up the Food Rescue Alliance, a peer learning network which aims to provide free support to start-up initiatives focusing on food waste. The Food Rescue Alliance also organises annual “un-conferences” on food justice and has developed the Food Rescue Robot, a web application that helps food rescue groups to keep track of all of the tasks required to run a food rescue initiative.

Volunteers use normal bikes to tow the trailers. Photo credit: Boulder Food Rescue

The use of bikes to carry out these operations is central to both the Boulder and Denver initiatives’ overall philosophies. Sustainability in the form of use of non-motorised transport (where possible) as well as reduction of food waste is a stated aim. Some of the neighbourhoods served by the initiatives are amongst the most polluted in the country; using bikes also ensures that operations don’t contribute to this pollution. Denver Food Rescue estimates that they saved 8 tons in CO2 emissions in 2016, just by using bikes.

Boulder Food Rescue estimates that 80% of their transport is carried out by bike. Even offshoot initiative Colorado Springs Food Rescue, operating in a city with a significant urban sprawl, manage 50% of their deliveries by bike. These figures are high for American cities in which so coverage of cycling infrastructure is patchy at best. Although in general Colorado is seen as fairly progressive when it comes to provision of cycling infrastructure, it is for the most part currently still at an early stage of development. Like many car-dominated cities at similar stages, it is therefore thought of by many as a hostile environment in which to ride a bike.

Denver Food Rescue volunteers prepare a load. Photo credit: Denver Food Rescue

The use of cargo bikes for community-based initiatives seems to be a growing trend in the last few years in North America. Another great example is the Disaster Relief Trials which we’ve written about previously. These initiatives also touch on the trends of Food and Waste in cycle logistics.

Organisation: Denver Food Rescue and Boulder Food Rescue
Sector: Voluntary
City: Boulder and Denver, Colorado
Country: USA
Basis: Permanent
Website: https://denverfoodrescue.org, https://www.boulderfoodrescue.org
Facebook: Denver Food Rescue Facebook, Boulder Food Rescue Facebook
Twitter: Denver Food Rescue Twitter, Boulder Food Rescue Twitter

Sources:
Denver Food Rescue Annual Report 2016 (opens pdf)
Urban Conversion: "How to Start Your Own Food Rescue"
Urban Conversion: "Boulder Food Rescue – A Catalyst for Change"
Westword: “Food Rescue Ride Connects Denver Communities With Free, Fresh Produce”
The Atlantic: “Why Americans Lead the World in Food Waste”
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA): “U.S. Food Waste Challenge / FAQ's”
Ultra Fifty Two Eighty: “A Great Cause In Your Backyard | Denver Food Rescue”
The Fill: “How Denver Food Rescue is Reducing Food Waste One Pedal at a Time”
CBS Denver: “Cyclists Rescue Produce For Those In Need”
The Huffington Post: “Boulder Food Rescue: From Passion To Impact, Redefining Food Systems”
City of Boulder, Colorado: “City partners with Boulder Food Rescue to evaluate food waste in Boulder”

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A volunteering marathon in Nijmegen

(Ivan Podraza is a cycling activist and a lawyer from Osijek, Croatia and a European Law Master’s student, Human Rights and Migration track, at Radboud University Nijmegen)

 Studying abroad is not only about studying and a travelling, it’s also a great opportunity to volunteer - to donate some of your free time and energy, and to get something in return – to grow as a person, to acquire some experience and knowledge, to broaden your network, to explore some future opportunities and to integrate better into society. Oh, I almost forgot, volunteering is fun, plus the organizers feed you very well (usually, ha-ha) and you are almost always given some valuable memorabilia such as t-shirts that will remind you of all the good time you had.

I decided to have “a volunteering marathon” at two festivals in Nijmegen during April. One of them was International Cargo Bike Festival 2016 and the other was Groene Week (Green Week) festival of sustainability. Here I’d like to share my experience on volunteering at ICBF and here you can read my experience on volunteering at Groene Week festival as well.  

I hope to motivate others to do the same.

Participating at ICBF was a must for me

Since I’m a cycling activist, the most natural thing for me was to participate in the International Cargo Bike Festival, probably the largest cargo bike festival in the world. I already knew the organizer Jos Sluijsmans from before, since we’ve met during a cycling festival in Croatia’s capital Zagreb several years ago, so it was easy to contact him.

Come to think of it, it was super interesting for me to see the festival from another perspective, because I already have experience as a director of a similar eight-day festival BikeMyDayS which was organised in my hometown Osijek and co-financed by European Commission within their campaign of sustainable transport “Do the Right Mix”.

Click on the banner to watch the video

Socializing and networking
This two-day cargo bike festival was a perfect opportunity for me to meet people from the cycling community not only from Nijmegen and the Netherlands, but also around the world. Even before it officially started, I had helped by putting up the banners on several key locations in the city and also by interviewing some of the participants.

During the final preparation day on Friday the 15^th I got introduced to the team of volunteers – all of them were Dutch. And although the Dutch of every age and walk of life speak English very good, they spoke Dutch between themselves, so it was a useful opportunity for me to listen and try to use my knowledge of this language. On the same day I met my very dear friend Daniel, a cargo bike constructor and an engineer from Bogota, Colombia, and we clicked immediately. I felt really happy to see his impression after the festival ended: “I have been accepted, helped, loved and protected by marvelous persons Jos Sluijsmans, Remco Kroeze, Ivan Podraza. Life is so beautiful and our home is one – the planet Earth!…”

I’d also like to point out that I was given the opportunity to meet a Member of the EU Parliament Michael Cramer who is well-known for his cycling advocacy. Next to it, I contributed to the official magazine of the festival by writing an article about the potential of urban cargo bike sharing system in Europe. What’s interesting is that this magazine was printed on the same day of the conference on Saturday so that every participant could get it, therefore the media team had to be really fast when writing the articles and editing the magazine.

And having fun as well
Of course, volunteers had enough free time to enjoy different aspects of the festival, to listen to the lectures, to take part in the cargo bike race… I think I tested at least 80 % of the bikes that were offered there. 

Cycling Without Age rikshaw

To me, the most interesting thing was “Cycling without Age” cargo bike, used by an organisation that helps elderly people by riding them around and thus increasing their quality of life. I’m looking forward to start volunteering for them in autumn!

Just look how many participants were there, and that’s even not all of them:

Photo: Remco Kroeze. Participants of the ICBF2016 Conference at De Vasim

The festival was a huge success, attracting hundreds of visitors. And yes, it makes perfect sense that Nijmegen has been elected de Fietsstad (Cycling city) of the Netherlands for the year 2016 and 2017. The International Cargo Bike Festival, I am absolutely sure, plays an important role in that.

If you’d like to read about the festival itself, check the most famous Dutch cyclingblog, with three nice videos!

More videos, photos, reports, presentations, etc.