NextPlate & Me

The sad truth about food waste is that the issue lies in distribution, not production. One-third of all food produced in America is thrown away, while more than half of all fruits and vegetables produced every year are wasted. Much of the food that goes to waste consists of excess products & meals that stores are unable to sell, or have small aesthetic defects.

Growing up as the son of immigrants, the most common answer to “I’m hungry” was “Go drink water.” As we essentially depended on my father’s paltry PhD stipend, my parents embraced a thrifty but necessary lifestyle. We went to discounted admission zoos instead of amusement parks and adopted the mindset that expiration dates were guidelines, not hard rules. Because food insecurity is an issue that hits close to home, one of my life-long goals has been to do what I can to combat that problem. That's why I joined the NextPlate team.

By partnering with food sustainable restaurants in the USC Village and the surrounding LA area, NextPlate offers these excess meals to consumers at incredible discounts. Not only are we saving food from being thrown away, our goal is to help students save money on their next meal.