It all started when Thai Nguyen joined other mothers at her child’s school to try and infuse more healthy fresh foods into their school meals. To make the budget work, they picked up unused food from a local food bank.
Now the Kaizen Food Rescue has grown and provided 5 million pounds of food through 21 partner organizations in 2021.
“I saw what would happen to the food we were rescuing. Just our little school and what we could load in our cars to share with our kids and our families,” Nguyen said.
Then she learned more and came to understand that $218 billion dollars worth of food was going to waste every year in the U.S. So in 2019, she launched the Kaizen Food Rescue non-profit. The group takes great pride in the fact that they are immigrant founded and entirely women and BIPOC led.
The spirit of the organization is found in its name. Kaizen is roughly translated to "change for the better." Taken from Japanese manufacturing methodology, it outlines a process for continuous improvement, giving yourself the grace to learn from mistakes and make the process better. For the food rescue, that means including their community in everything they do.
“We totally feel that the people we serve have to be part of the decisions that impact them. We are trying to uplift all the people,” Nguyen said. “We are always open to feedback. Our community is letting us know from the car line what they want: Fresh produce and culturally sensitive foods.”
Beyond the food they provide across four metro area counties, the non-profit also offers training programs to help community members enhance their dormant skills. Currently, that training is infused with a real opportunity to develop a co-op style grocery option in a new development in south west Denver.
“It is about more than food. It’s about the dignity and success me and my entire community,” Nguyen said. “We have to recognize the intersectionality of all we are dealing with, the compounding issues of food insecurity, affordable housing and much more. And we have to help create pathways so that each of us can find our own success.”