The following article is a guest contribution from Dan Beam, Communications Manager, Move For Hunger

Moving forces people to make a number of difficult decisions about what they can and can’t take with them. In those frenzied days of wrapping, packing, and figuring out whether or not that dresser is really going to make it up the stairs, most of us don’t take the time to consider what we’re going to do with all the food we’ve stored in our cupboards and pantries. Too often, these perfectly good items are tossed in the trash or left behind.

More than 42 million Americans are considered food insecure, meaning they lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members and a limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods. Meanwhile, 40% of all food produced in the United States each year is lost or wasted.

So while throwing away a box of cereal or a few cans of soup may not seem like such a big deal at the time, when you consider that more than 30 million Americans move each year, it adds up.

Fortunately, there’s a solution.

Move For Hunger is a national non-profit organization that has mobilized the relocation industry to reduce food waste during the moving process. Our network of moving & relocation professionals provides customers, clients, and residents with the opportunity to donate their unopened, non-perishable food to a local food bank instead of letting it go to waste, all free-of-charge.

It was a simple idea that has had a profound impact. Since 2009, Move For Hunger has delivered more than 10 million pounds of food – that’s the equivalent of 8.3 million meals – to food banks and pantries nationwide.

There’s something about food waste that tugs at our conscience. Perhaps we inherited that from our grandparents, who lived through the rationing of the World Wars, saw the bread lines of the Great Depression and never missed a chance to remind us how good we have it now. Wasting food was unthinkable to earlier generations, and it should be unthinkable now, too.

If you are relocating this year, or if you know someone who is, please share what you can spare and helped provide meals to your neighbors in need. Visit MoveForHunger.org to learn more about our work and check out our Find a Mover map for a listing of socially-responsible moving companies in your area.

Every move is an opportunity to help a family in your community. Please donate your food when you move. It will be the most important box you’ll pack.