Partners like Tyson Foods are key collaborators with us in finding solutions to close the protein gap to ensure all neighbors have access to the nutritious food needed to thrive.
Protein is an essential part of a healthy diet. Chicken, beef, pork, and seafood are among the most requested items at food banks by people experiencing food insecurity. However, food banks face a significant shortage of protein donations, while working hard to meet community needs.
"At Tyson Foods, we feed the world like family. Therefore, addressing food access and nutrition is an important part of what we do," said Tim Grailer, Senior Director of Community Impact for Tyson Foods. "Partnering with Feeding America, given its size and the scale of the nationwide network, means we can reach communities all over the U.S. to provide healthy foods."
Tyson Foods, a Feeding America Visionary Partner, has donated more than 43 million pounds of protein, valued at approximately $50 million, directly to the food bank network over the last three years. Across the entire charitable food system, Tyson Foods has donated over 100 million pounds—valued at nearly $126 million—during the same time period, much of it directly to partner agencies at smaller quantities.
A History of Giving
Tyson Foods has donated protein throughout most of its company history. In recent years, Tyson Foods implemented a structured framework to govern food donations. Grailer noted Tyson's alignment with Feeding America's food safety commitment, which includes a two-part approach: requiring all partner food banks to meet strict food safety standards and providing tools, training and resources to support food banks in meeting these requirements.
"Feeding America has a deep understanding of food distribution rules and regulations and holds its network members to the same high standards, ensuring the integrity and quality of our products," Grailer said. "By aligning this aspect of our philanthropic portfolio with Feeding America's mission, we're able to extend the reach and impact of our giving while leveraging their expertise."
Partnering to Close the Protein Gap
The protein gap stems from a combination of high demand for nutritious food and limited supply at food banks. While food banks are working hard to support communities, they face challenges like limited refrigeration and repackaging space to properly package large protein donations. Tyson Foods invests products and funds to advance innovative approaches, including supporting efforts to maintain and expand the network's 13 protein pack rooms. With protein pack rooms, network members can fulfill the food safety and temperature requirements for storing, repacking in family-size quantities, and shipping fresh and frozen products to ensure people facing hunger have the nourishment they need.
"Once we invested in protein pack rooms, private label protein donations could be unpacked and repackaged, allowing us to more than double our product donations," said Grailer, noting that the company donated over 45 million pounds—valued at over $85 million—of protein across the entire charitable food system during the first year of its protein pack room investment, up from 22 million pounds of protein the previous year. "With protein pack rooms, we can get more product to people without having to invest more to repackage it."
Tyson Foods also invests in rural food home delivery programs—donating $500,000 in fiscal year 2025—to help reach neighbors experiencing food insecurity in rural communities, which is where many of the company's stakeholders, including fast food franchise owners and farmers that provide grain for chicken feed, are based.
"Rural areas are where there's the greatest lack of charitable food infrastructure," Grailer said. "Limited transportation access is one issue. Not everyone owns a car, or their work schedule may prevent them from getting to a pantry."
To help increase food access, Tyson Foods collaborated with DoorDash to launch a rural delivery pilot program, working with Gleaners Food Bank (Indianapolis, IN) and Northwest Arkansas Food Bank (Lowell, AR), to deliver charitable food to seniors and people that lack transportation access. Due to the success of the pilots, which ran March through July 2024, Tyson Foods plans to scale the program nationally in 2025.
