Eat Greater Des Moines

What Eat Greater Des Moines does

Eat Greater Des Moines (EGDM) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2013 and headquartered at 501 SW 7th Street, Suite G, Des Moines, Iowa. The organization operates a portfolio of five interlocking food-system programs: Food Rescue & Delivery (commercial excess-food recovery and redistribution), Community Fridges (24/7 no-ID public food access points), Gleaning (harvest-surplus collection from local growers), Value Chain Coordination (USDA-funded regional relationship-building between producers, food hubs, and buyers), and Advocacy (food-system policy education). EGDM engages volunteers to recover surplus food from wholesale distributors, grocery stores, restaurants, event centers, hotels, and farmers, then redistributes through community fridges, food pantries, shelters, libraries, and schools to food-insecure households and culturally-specific communities such as the Latino population served via LULAC 317 in Columbus Junction.

The organization has no proprietary technology platform — operations are coordinated through community networks, partner infrastructure, and volunteer logistics. Its revenue model is donation- and grant-based, comprising in-kind food donations, monetary donations from individuals and corporations, and government grants. The most consequential revenue stream is USDA funding: EGDM serves as fiscal sponsor for the statewide "Eat Greater Iowa" project, hosting multiple Value Chain Coordinators across all Iowa regions under the USDA Regional Food System Partnership, and channeling Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) funds through partner food hubs such as Organic Greens.

EGDM's primary customer segments are food-insecure individuals and families (reached via community fridges, food pantries, and shelters), with secondary segments including local growers and farmers (seeking market access) and partner pantries, shelters, libraries, and schools (receiving rescued food). Strategic partners include the Iowa Food System Coalition (fiscal coalition host), Iowa State University Outreach and Extension (formal program evaluation), USDA (funder and program source), Supply Hive (food pickup partner), Organic Greens (southeast Iowa food hub), LULAC 317 (culturally-appropriate food access), and Southern Iowa RC&D (farm-to-ECE implementation). The organization operates with approximately 3 core staff (one of whom is a VISTA volunteer) and is overseen by a board that includes Chair Kristin Griffith (State of Iowa) and Treasurer Corrin Hatala (Principal Financial Group).

Name

Eat Greater Des Moines

Legal name

Eat Greater Des Moines

Website

https://eatgreaterdesmoines.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Eat Greater Des Moines is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that operates food rescue, community fridges, gleaning, Value Chain Coordination, and advocacy programs to redistribute surplus food and strengthen Iowa's food system statewide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hunger Relief Services

NAICS

Community Food Services (62421)

akta.pro primary industry

Food Assistance & Food Banks (BPAGAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Food Waste Reduction & Diversion Services (Donation, Animal Feed, Source Reduction Programs) (EUAIAEAH), Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems (Fair Trade, Food Access, Regenerative) (BPAGALAD), Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems (BPAGAGAI)

Keywords

• Food rescue services
• Community fridges
• Gleaning programs
• Value chain coordination
• Food waste reduction

Headquarters

HQ city

Des Moines

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Food Donations: Receives donated excess food from wholesale distributors, grocery stores, convenience stores, hotels, event centers, restaurants, and farmers. Food is redistributed to communities in need.
2. Financial Donations: Accepts monetary donations from individuals and corporations to support operations, community fridge maintenance, and food system advocacy programs.
3. USDA Regional Food System Partnership Funding: Receives USDA funding as fiscal sponsor for the Eat Greater Iowa project, hosting Value Chain Coordinators and supporting statewide food system improvement initiatives.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Eat Greater Des Moines is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that rescues excess donated food from wholesale distributors, grocery stores, convenience stores, hotels, event centers, and restaurants and redistributes it to food-insecure community members through food rescue pickups, publicly accessible community fridges, and gleaning of surplus produce from local farms. The organization also operates a statewide Value Chain Coordination program under USDA Regional Food System Partnership fiscal sponsorship and conducts food system policy advocacy to strengthen Iowa's local food system.

Product overview

Eat Greater Des Moines is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization operating a multi-program portfolio focused on food system transformation in the Des Moines, Iowa area. The organization functions as a platform of interconnected food access and waste reduction programs: Value Chain Coordination serves as the connective infrastructure, linking local growers, food hubs, and community organizations; Community Fridges provide publicly accessible distribution points for free food exchange; Food Rescue & Delivery gathers commercial excess food for redistribution; Gleaning harvests surplus produce from fields; and Advocacy drives policy education. These programs work together to reduce food waste, increase food access, and strengthen the local food economy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Food Rescue & Delivery A program that gathers excess donated food from wholesale distributors, grocery stores, convenience stores, hotels, event centers, and restaurants and redistributes it to libraries, homeless shelters, youth programs, schools, and other community organizations for food-insecure community members.
• Community Fridges Publicly accessible refrigerators stocked with free food and placed at community locations throughout the Des Moines metro area, allowing anyone to donate or take food 24/7 without ID, signup, or income verification, eliminating the stigma of traditional food assistance.
• Gleaning A program that gathers surplus produce left behind during harvest from local growers and redistributes it throughout the community, taking excess food off growers' hands while providing healthy local food to families facing food insecurity.
• Value Chain Coordination Value Chain Coordinators (VCCs) work to strengthen connections across food systems across all regions of Iowa, serving as relationship builders, researchers, and innovators who facilitate local food buyer/seller relationships and increase consumption of locally produced agricultural products.
• Advocacy Education and advocacy efforts focused on current policies impacting the food system, the importance of local procurement, food waste statistics, hunger issues, and community-driven improvements to the food system.

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and supporting.

• Iowa Food System Coalition (IFSC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIFSC is a coalition of Iowa Food System member organizations. Eat Greater Des Moines serves as fiscal sponsor and host of Value Chain Coordinators for the statewide Eat Greater Iowa project, working collaboratively with IFSC member organizations to improve Iowa's food system.
• Iowa State University Outreach and ExtensioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConducting formal evaluation of the Eat Greater Iowa project, providing research and extension services to assess impact and outcomes of statewide Value Chain Coordination efforts.
• Organic GreenscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFood hub in Southeast Iowa that supplies locally grown foods to food pantries through the USDA Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement (LFPA). Partnered with Value Chain Coordinator Jonathan Lawrence to expand LFPA distribution in Louisa County.
• LULAC 317coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLeague of United Latin American Citizens food pantry in Columbus Junction serving the Latino community. Receives bi-weekly local food deliveries and a community fridge from Eat Greater Des Moines to serve food-insecure families with culturally appropriate foods.
• Supply HivemajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLocal food rescue partner organization. Eat Greater Des Moines connects food donors with Supply Hive for food pickup and distribution services in the Des Moines area.
• Southern Iowa Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerImplementing farm to early care education program in seven counties with Value Chain Coordination support. Executive Director Michelle Wilson coordinates with EGDM on local food sourcing for classroom kits.
• Iowa State University (Food Hub Managers Working Group)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerValue Chain Coordinator Jonathan Lawrence participates in the statewide food hub managers working group, which has helped implement the LFPA program delivering local foods to food banks and pantries across Iowa.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Gleaning for the World: National nonprofit that recovers surplus food and gleaning produce to distribute to those in need. Directly comparable gleaning program and food-rescue mission.
• Food Rescue US: National nonprofit that uses an app-based platform to connect food donors with recipient agencies to redirect surplus food. Closest direct peer on the food-rescue model with a stronger technology layer.
• Table to Table (Iowa): Iowa-based food rescue organization that picks up surplus food from donors and delivers it to agencies serving food-insecure individuals. Directly comparable operating model in the same state.
• Hunger Free Colorado: Statewide anti-hunger advocacy and food access organization combining direct service with policy work. Closely comparable hybrid service-plus-advocacy model, though operating in a different state.
• Food Bank of Iowa: Primary regional food bank serving Des Moines and central Iowa, distributing donated food through a network of partner pantries. Directly comparable mission (food rescue and redistribution) and overlapping geography.

Others

• ReFED: National nonprofit focused on data, analysis, and solutions to reduce U.S. food waste. Adjacent to Eat Greater Des Moines on the food-waste side and a potential thought-leadership ally.
• Iowa Food System Coalition: Statewide coalition of food-system organizations of which Eat Greater Des Moines is a member and partner. Ecosystem peer and coordinating body that overlaps on advocacy and value-chain work.

Broad incumbents

• Sustainable America: National nonprofit working to improve food sustainability and reduce food waste through advocacy and programs. Comparable dual focus on food waste reduction and food-system improvement.
• Feeding America: National umbrella network of 200+ food banks including the Food Bank of Iowa. Comparable mission but operates at vastly greater scale across the U.S., defining the dominant incumbent model.

Regional players

• Keep Iowa Beautiful: Iowa-based nonprofit focused on community improvement, sustainability, and waste reduction including food waste. Comparable regional scope and sustainability orientation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/eatgreaterdesmoines
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/eat-greater-des-moines

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Eat Greater Des Moines