The Global FoodBanking Network improves food access with Sustainability Manager
via Microsoft
Executive summary
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.
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. "Our 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," says Ana Catalina Suárez Peña, 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 in 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 GFN'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. "Microsoft Sustainability Manager was already a solution that many of our partners were using, which made it easier for us to interoperate and collaborate," says Lisa Moon, President and CEO of The Global FoodBanking Network. "The global reach and cultural adaptability of the Microsoft technology made it the perfect fit for our diverse 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.