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1/13/2025

The Global FoodBanking Network improves food access with Sustainability Manager

The Global FoodBanking Network needed reliable emissions data to scale operations and attract donors, but manual reporting was time-consuming and resource intensive.

The organization uses data-driven insights from Microsoft Sustainability Manager to help reduce emissions and optimize food bank operations and measure their performance on four sustainability development goals.

The Global FoodBanking Network has optimized processes and boosted donor engagement with the help of reliable data insights from Microsoft Sustainability Manager.

The Global FoodBanking Network

Addressing hunger and reducing waste globally

For members of The Global FoodBanking Network (GFN), the relationship between food waste and environmental waste was quite clear. Whenever food was redistributed to vulnerable communities in one of the 54 countries where its 778 community food banks operate, it helped to reduce the amount of harmful methane emissions generated in landfills.

The main challenge was murky data, which made it difficult to calculate, analyze, and report its avoided emissions. The process usually involves creating time-consuming manual reports. ā€œOur food banks have limited resources, and they often have to choose between essential activities like hiring a social worker, buying a truck, or collecting data,ā€ says Ana Catalina SuĆ”rez PeƱa, Strategic Innovation Senior Director at The Global FoodBanking Network.

Food banks needed reliable emissions data to make strategic decisions, scale their operations, and attract more donors to continue serving their neighbors. Because of its global reach, GFN also required a solution that could be easily adopted by its members.

Streamlining sustainability efforts with Microsoft Sustainability Manager

Microsoft Sustainability Manager, a solution inĀ Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability, offers a comprehensive solution for the carbon emissions an organization generates. World Wide Technology worked with Microsoft to modify this platform to specifically address avoided methane emissions for GFNā€™s objectives. GFN also uses it to track four Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are of crucial importance to the organization: Zero Hunger, Climate Action, Responsible Consumption and Production, and Decent Work and Economic Growth. ā€œMicrosoft Sustainability Manager was already a solution that many of our partners were using, which made it easier for us to interoperate and collaborate,ā€ says Lisa Moon, President and CEO of The Global FoodBanking Network. ā€The global reach and cultural adaptability of the Microsoft technology made it the perfect fit for our diverse Network.ā€

The global reach and cultural adaptability of the Microsoft technology made it the perfect fit for our diverse Network.

Lisa Moon, President and CEO, The Global FoodBanking Network

GFN collaborated with World Wide Technology to implement a new global methodology to quantify emissions and impact across SDG in Sustainability Manager. Additional functionalities that were created help members import data from their daily operations into Sustainability Manager. GFN also chose Banco de Alimentos Quito to pilot the program. The Ecuadorian food bank serves between 85,000 and 90,000 people monthly through 95 organizations including soup kitchens, senior centers, orphanages, and shelters for critically ill patients.

Banco de Alimentos Quito uses Sustainability Manager to track various metrics, including the amount of food recovered, energy consumption, and fuel usage. Alicia Guevara, founder and professor at the Escuela PolitĆ©cnica Nacional, noted that using the software has already resulted in tangible benefits. ā€œUsing Sustainability Manager, we can monitor our operations monthly and make the necessary adjustments to improve efficiency,ā€ Guevara explains. ā€œFor example, we discovered inefficiencies in our refrigeration system that were contributing to our carbon footprint. By addressing these issues, we significantly improved our processes.ā€ By offloading manual processes to Sustainability Manager, staff can focus more of their efforts on strategic tasks.

Using Sustainability Manager, we can monitor our operations monthly and make the necessary adjustments to improve efficiency.

Alicia Guevara, Founder, Banco de Alimentos Quito

Building a sustainable future with data-driven insights

Using data-driven insights provided by Sustainability Manager, GFN and its member food banks can strengthen a key component of its work, demonstrating environmental, social, and humanitarian impacts to its donors. In addition to reporting methane emission reductions, GFN members can also calculate contributions to nutrition security and job creation.

ā€œThe data collected with Sustainability Manager is auditable and provides a clear picture of our impact,ā€ SuĆ”rez PeƱa says. ā€œThis transparency is crucial for engaging with donors, governments, and other partners.Ā For example, in Ecuador, the government is now considering incorporating food banking into their methane emission reduction plans based on the data we provided.ā€ GFN has also seen increased donations from businesses. Encouraged by the results, the organization is expanding the use of Sustainability Manager to other network members in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

ā€œLast year, our member food banks recovered and distributed 654 million kilograms of food, avoiding 1.8 million metric tons of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent),ā€ explains SuĆ”rez PeƱa. ā€œWith Microsoftā€™s help, weā€™re improving food access for 50 million people by 2030, working towards a more sustainable and compassionate world.ā€

Discover more about TheĀ Global FoodBanking Network onĀ Facebook,Ā Instagram,Ā LinkedIn,Ā X/Twitter, andĀ YouTube.

The data collected with Sustainability Manager is auditable and provides a clear picture of our impact. This transparency is crucial for engaging with donors, governments, and other partners.

Ana Catalina SuƔrez PeƱa, Strategic Innovation Sr. Director, The Global FoodBanking Network

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