151 State of Hunger: Driving the Grocery Food Rescue Program with Ragu Razo

People call him “Ragu the Plumber.”

But these days Ragu Razo doesn’t work as a plumber. Six years ago, he swapped his old nine-to-five job to drive a refrigerated truck for The Salvation Army in Mesa, Arizona. 

Every weekday, Razu collects food from five different stores on his route in the East Valley. The food is still good, but it won’t be sold anymore at stores because it’s reached the “sell by” date. Once Ragu’s loaded up the food, he brings it back to the Mesa Citadel Corps so it can feed hungry families in the area. 

It’s all part of the Grocery Food Rescue Program, a partnership between the United Food Bank and The Salvation Army.

Ragu’s efforts help feed about 50 families a day. And it’s not just canned food. The corps is able to offer meat, poultry, fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, bread and other food staples to clients. 

Not to mention, the program helps keep food that is still good out of landfills. Each year, some 119 billion pounds of food is wasted in the U.S., according to Feeding America. That equates to 130 billion meals and more than $408 billion in food discarded each year. 

That means that nearly 40 percent of all food in the U.S. is wasted.

That number’s even more concerning when you consider 34 million Americans are living in food-insecure households.

That’s why food rescue programs like the one Ragu helps out are more important than ever. 

Today, we talk with Ragu about his “second career,” what fuels his desire to give back, and what it’s like to see firsthand just how much food is being saved in one community.

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