Diane Letson is Vice President of Food Industry Partnerships for Feeding America. She has spent more than 25 years at Feeding America in various supply chain and product sourcing roles, as well as a two-year opportunity serving the Feeding America network as a member engagement director responsible for food bank compliance. Her work has involved securing donations from manufacturers, co-packers, wholesalers, foodservice companies, and retailers for day-to-day network needs and operations, as well as during disaster response. She co-directed a two-year project devoted to local product sourcing, which led to the development of a food resources curriculum for the network.
Recalls are an integral element of the comprehensive food safety system in the U.S. Removing potentially life-threatening products from store shelves and home pantries is essential, and making this process more efficient for the food banks and pantries is vital. The modernization of the current recall system must be inclusive of the entire distribution chain—including the real "last mile."
