From Magic Tricks to Food Rescue: Mac Florendo's Journey to Fight Hunger
- Mac Florendo
- Feb 8
- 6 min read
“Kain tayo! (Let’s eat!)” is such a regular Filipino thing to say and is deeply ingrained in the nation’s culture.
This is why it’s quite ironic that the country has the highest number of food insecure people in Southeast Asia (UN Report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2023) and even more astonishing is how food waste in the Philippines is a critical issue. According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Food Waste Index Report 2024, Philippine households wasted nearly 3 million tonnes of food a year. Though the reports are recent, this crisis has been going on for years.
Though magic is his specialty, Mac Edsel Florendo goes beyond enchantments and tricks and puts together an organization that fights food waste and hunger.
The Birth of Food Rescue
Creative artist and magician Mac Florendo is not a stranger to this societal issue.
Back in 2015, Florendo was chosen to be a part of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) where he studied environmental issues in Hawaii and in Colorado in the United States. During his time at the program, he came across Boulder Food Rescue in Boulder, Colorado.
“They were already doing food rescue and the concept was very simple. You get to talk to a food establishment, learn about how they manage their surplus food and if there's excess, you talk to them,” Florendo shares. Because he was there for an environmental program for YSEALI, he found it significant because food waste is seen as one of the biggest contributors to climate change.
“Since there was food available, we redistributed to people in need. When I met the people behind Boulder Food Rescue, they were using bikes. Initially, the main attraction for me was the bike. Walang gastos. ("No expenses.") In that program, one of the requirements is to create a project when we go back to the Philippines. I’ve decided that this is it since I was already riding a bike,” he candidly confesses.
“The problem of food is very common because everybody eats. We’re also aware na may sobra, may hindi nauubos. ("... there's excess, there are items not consumed.") For me, this problem is something we have in the Philippines. There are also Filipinos who are hungry. When I did my research, no one else had done this in the Philippines. So I decided to do it quickly," he says.
"It was a ‘eureka!’ moment. I’m doing something for my health (biking) and it’s community-driven. You get to bring in people who also bike, who’s also into food, who know there’s extra food and hungry people. You’re also able to help out communities in need,” Florendo continues.
When he went back to the Philippines, Florendo founded Food Rescue Philippines, a nonprofit that collects surplus food from establishments and redistributes it to churches, shelters, and communities in need. Originally, because Florendo was with other Southeast Asian fellows in the program, he wanted it to launch both in the Philippines and Malaysia initially naming it Food Rescue ASEAN. Sadly, the arrangement fell through but that did not deter him from establishing the organization.
He first did all the efforts in Dumaguete where he studied at Siliman University. He went to the university canteen, the cafeteria, the neighborhood bakery, and even to the public market riding the bike.
“I didn’t do it formally. I was just curious. I talked to the staff and asked them where the surplus of food goes. Some were repurposed but most go to waste,” he learned.
He thought of people in the community who might be hungry but he also needed a validation of that thought. He visited the Social Work Department of Silliman University, the church, and the shelter at a low-income barangay to confirm. There, he found out that there were, indeed, people who needed to be fed. He then talked to food establishments and the people in the public market and pitched his idea of food rescue. Armed with a bike and a plan, he was able to successfully do his first-ever food rescue.
“I was a student at that time, 20 years old. It’s my 10th year of doing food rescue now,” he said, the realization hitting him that it’s been a decade of conducting this advocacy.
As for volunteers, he started with people he’s friends with who ride bikes. It was another round of pitching the idea to them.
“Until people noticed and the school newspaper wrote about it and it reached regional news and then national news. I got to join grants competitions and research speaking [opportunities]. And then other schools heard about it,” Florendo narrates, sharing how the organization evolved.
Climate Change Impact
While food rescue is a sustainable way to reduce food waste and help people in need, it also has an impact on climate change.
One, it reduces greenhouse gas emissions because food waste releases methane. It’s the kind of gas that traps heat from the sun. With food waste reduction comes reduced methane emissions.
Secondly, it conserves resources. Food waste also means wasted resources on growing, storing, processing, distributing, and preparing food.
“The whole process of [preparing] food takes away resources. You need land, water, sunlight, and labor just to produce food—one type of food. So, once you have that food—for example, farms and agriculture—you need logistics, you need manufacturing, you need factories, you need retailing and you need marketing. You're wasting so much resources. Then it goes to your plate. ‘Ay, di ko trip yung lasa.’ Imagine the whole process. Very wasteful. So, you're also wasting money and the whole process of producing food. Throwing it away is one of the biggest contributors to climate change. Imagine, ilang beses tayo kumakain,” Florendo explains in detail.
Lastly, Food Rescue Philippines is also distributing the rescued edible food surpluses to charity using a bike, an eco-friendly solution.
“On a personal note, using bike doesn’t entail a cost. I also didn’t need a warehouse or a physical space to do this. It was just a bike so no carbon footprint,” he says.
Because of Florendo’s vision for food rescue, he earned the YSEALI Seeds for the Future grant, and Food Rescue Philippines was named as one of the Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations (TAYO) in 2016.
In 2023, Florendo joined Scholars of Sustenance (SOS) Philippines as a Food Rescue Supervisor. SOS Philippines, founded by Bo Holmgreen, rescues surplus food from restaurants, hotels, groceries, manufacturers, and other food businesses, redistributing it to vulnerable communities while reducing food waste. SOS has provided over 3 million meals across Metro Manila and helped significantly reduce carbon emissions through food waste diversion.
According to Florendo, if Food Rescue Philippines is for the community, SOS Philippines operates on a bigger scale.
“May impact pa rin [ang community effort]. People still talk about [Food Rescue], people still volunteer and people still see that it makes sense and it needs to be done. So, ‘yun naman ang gusto kong mangyari sa Pilipinas—to have a lifestyle of not wasting food.” ("...so that's my vision for the Philippines..."
For his outstanding contributions, Florendo received the 2023 Sustainability Leadership Award for non-profit Sustainable Development Leadership, presented by Sustainable PH, Union Bank, and JCI Quezon City Capitol at the Changemaker 2040 event.
Asked how he applies sustainability outside of his work and in his everyday life, Florendo says his passion for food rescue isn’t just about rescuing actual food and money. In his experience, it was about opportunities and he doesn’t want people to waste opportunities.
“I live by the concept of Now, N-O-W. It is No Opportunities Wasted. When I applied to that student exchange program, all my classmates declined because they wanted to graduate on time. But I didn’t care about that because I wanted the opportunity—it’s free and it’s all-expense-paid. Sino ako ngayon kung hindi ko tinake ‘yung opportunity na iyon?” he concludes meaningfully, evidently passionate for the advocacy. ("Who was I to not take that opportunity?")
While you see Florendo actively pursuing his art in creative projects and entertaining with magic tricks, he has the heart of a food rescuer. He is committed to inspiring action and creating meaningful change with Food Rescue and SOS Philippines and proves that food rescue is an impactful solution to both hunger and environmental challenges that the Philippines continues to face.
Written by Grace Diez
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