Reedley nonprofit fighting food insecurity throughout the nation
Dec 11, 2024
REEDLEY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - Fighting food insecurity in Fresno County and across the United States is the mission of Keystone Packing in Reedley.
Inside a small packing facility in Reedley, nearly 25,000,000 pounds of produce is saved each year that otherwise would have gone to waste.
"Unfortunately, Americans, we shop with our eyes, and everything's got to look beautiful and be the right shade. And that's all we're dealing with here, it's just dealing with something that's got a small cosmetic blemish and does not affect the nutrition of that fruit," said Randy Asadoor, CEO of Keystone Packing.
Keystone Packing is a nonprofit that started 15 years ago as a dream for Susan Asadoor who passed away in 2014.
Today her husband and children continue the work to provide fresh produce to a large number of food banks here in the valley and around the country.
Each week the Asadoors work with “Farm to Family", a program that started in 2005 under the California Association of Food Banks.
"We've grown into providing secure fresh produce to our 41 food bank members in California," said Sabrina Thakkar, who is the director of Farm to Family. "Our mission is to end hunger in California, and we have donors, packing houses, shippers that help us through this cause."
The California Association of Food Banks says one in four families here in the Central Valley struggle with food insecurity. It's that number that motivates Keystone to show up every single day, giving quality produce a second chance.
"You know, here in America, we're blessed enough to be able to pick and choose what we want to eat, but a lot of people can't," said Blake Asadoor, the CFO of Keystone Packing. "To see how much good fruit is thrown away, you know, it's sad. And to be able to do something about that feels really good."
Inside the warehouse fruit goes down the packing line to sort out any cracked or over-ripe fruit that will then go to cattle feed, the rest going into boxes that head out to food banks. It's a labor of love that Susan can be proud of.
"Well, to me, this me is my mom's legacy," said Grant Asadoor, who is a manager at Keystone Packing. "So, this company means the world to me, and it allows me to be closer to her even though she's gone. And she's never truly gone because we always show up to work."
For this family, they hope to continue providing fresh produce and reducing waste for as long as they can.
"I hope the boys feel the passion that I have for it, and I know they do now. And I think we'll be here for a long time," said Randy.
To help supply produce to food banks across California you can visit the California Food Banks website.