What began as a question at one Houston gala became a citywide effort to fight food waste and hunger.

Key Points

• Second Servings redirects surplus food to fight hunger and food waste in Houston.


• The nonprofit has delivered $150 million worth of rescued food in 10 years.


• Its PopUp Grocery Stores offer free, high-quality groceries across the city.

In January of 2013, Barbara Bronstein zipped up one of her best gowns and attended a Houston gala that had a boatload of last-minute no-shows. But an abbreviated social circle was only a small part of the story that night. Bronstein wondered what would happen to all the extra banquet fare that would go uneaten. “I found out the food would end up in the trash,” she recalls.

She thought that was such a waste, so Bronstein made a couple calls to see if she could find an organization that could take the leftovers. A soup kitchen called Impact Houston made the pickup. “I matched the soup kitchen with banquet pickups almost every month and by the end of the year realized what I was doing actually had a name,” says Bronstein.

That name, of course, is food rescue or food recovery. In summary, it’s finding a good home for unwanted food.

What She Did

This was the beginning of Second Servings, a Houston-area charity that simultaneously fights food waste and hunger. Thirteen years after that first delivery, Second Servings now works with some 400 donors who share food with those who need it on a scheduled or as-needed basis. Participating businesses include grocery stores like Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods Market and Kroger; hotels; dairies; and even beloved Houston sandwich company Antone’s Famous Po’ Boys.

The word “share” is key. Bronstein says that Trader Joe’s, in particular, prefers to use that word rather than say they donate to the cause. “They are sharing their food with the people who don’t get to shop there. The one-word change carries so much meaning,” she explains.

The Problem She’s Solving

More than a third of the American food supply is usually wasted. A similar number—39%—of Houstonians are food insecure, nearly three times the national average of 13.7%. That means Second Servings is simultaneously helping to solve two big problems.

And it no longer ends with soup kitchen donations. Noticing rising grocery prices, Bronstein and her team created PopUp Grocery Store in 2022. Held at community centers, churches and affordable housing sites seven days a week, shoppers make free selections of high-quality meat, produce, dairy, eggs and other staples to prepare at home.

Why It’s Cool

One of Bronstein’s favorite recent anecdotes came from a 70-year-old PopUp Grocery Store customer who tried lamb chops for the first time and said they were her new favorite food.

Another low-income senior shared with Bronstein photos of the meals she cooked from scores at her affordable housing site. They included filet mignon with mushroom glaze, Brussels sprouts, roasted carrots and potatoes au gratin; spaghetti with meat sauce, green beans and garlic bread; and steak frites. There is no question that Second Servings clients are living deliciously.

Second Servings also provides fulfilling volunteer opportunities. Last year, about 1,000 people assisted at PopUp Grocery Stores or rode in food delivery vans with drivers going to pickup and drop-off locations.

“After volunteers see the vast amount and high quality of the food that would ordinarily go to waste, they become our best spokespeople,” says Bronstein. “While filet mignon and organic eggs are typical, we’ve also received caviar and escargot.”

The Impact

In the past decade, Second Servings has saved $150 million worth of food that has helped nourish an estimated 300,000 Houstonians each year through 150 local nonprofit partners. “We have cheated the landfill of over 19 million pounds of food during our first 10 years. We have also been very efficient, delivering over $40 worth of food for every dollar we spent for the past several years,” says Bronstein of her “good news stats.”

Gala attendees always hope that their contributions and presence will make an impact. At the very first event where Second Servings donated food to those who needed it most, Bronstein asked the emcee to announce that excess food would be going to the hungry. “What followed was thunderous applause, and it was at that moment I realized I wasn’t the only one who hated to see good food go to waste,” she remembers.

And now, the proof is in the pudding—and the lamb chops.