Food banks are charitable, nonprofit institutions that gather donated food and food purchased with financial donations for redistribution to people who are hungry. In some countries, including the United States, food banks follow a warehouse model, gathering, sorting and redistributing food to other programs, such as soup kitchens and food pantries, that provide food directly to people who are hungry. In other countries, such as Canada, the term is more generic, covering both warehouse and direct provision functions. Food banks help reconcile the moral outrage of food going to waste when people are hungry and have become an integral component of the social safety net in many high-income countries.

Food banks gather food that cannot be sold, but is still safe to eat, from food manufacturers, ...