GFN Spotlight 2024

In an era of ongoing uncertainty and disruptions, food banks prove to be resilient, dynamic organizations that support communities around the globe.

In 2024, The Global Food Banking Network’s (GFN) member food banks provided service to more than 38 million people struggling with food security. Since 2018, food and grocery product distribution in the network has increased by 50%. While global hunger rates improved slightly in 2024, 673 million people are undernourished and 2.3 billion people faced food insecurity, as persistently high food prices kept a healthy diet out of reach for far too many.

The GFN Spotlight 2024 draws on data from 55 food banking organizations across 46 countries in The Global FoodBanking Network, to provide a look at developments and innovations in food banking, spotlights on members’ achievements, and a glimpse at increasing food security challenges in 2025.

Key Takeaways from the GFN Spotlight 2024

1. In 2024, GFN worked with food banks to dramatically increase the amount of food delivered to people, reaching near-record highs.
2. Supported by GFN’s new Agricultural Recovery Hub, food banks are rapidly increasing recovery of fresh fruits and vegetables from farms and local markets, delivering more highly nutritious food to people.
3. Food banks kept 512 million kilograms of nourishing food out of landfills, roughly equal to the emissions of 443,000 passenger vehicles in a year.
4. Newer food banks that are part of GFN’s Accelerator program are growing quickly, driven by intensive technical assistance and catalytic funding from GFN.
5. Food banks are hubs of community resilience, where an increasing number of volunteers come in to serve their communities