The concept of food banking began in the late 1960s in Phoenix, Arizona.  John Van Hengel, a retired businessman volunteering at a local soup kitchen, began soliciting donations of food products from grocery stores that might otherwise have gone to waste. Soon, his efforts were generating more food than the soup kitchen could handle.

Van Hengel decided to set up a warehouse where he could store the donated products and distribute them to charities feeding hungry people in Phoenix. The first food bank was then established.

In the early 1970s, several other food banks started in various cities as people learned of the food bank concept and copied it in their own communities.  In 1976, the federal government gave John Van Hengel's food bank a grant to assist in developing food banks throughout the nation.  The impetus for growth had been increased by the passage of the 1976 Tax Reform Act, which made it more financially advantageous for companies to donate their products.

By 1979, this federally funded development effort had expanded to include the solicitation of food donations and was incorporated formally as America's Second Harvest. America's Second Harvest soon became the clearinghouse for large donations from national corporations. The organization developed food bank standards for storage capacity, quality control, and management.

By 1982, federal funding was discontinued. America's Second Harvest increased its pursuit of alternative sources of financial support. In 1984, the America's Second Harvest national office was moved to Chicago, Illinois. The organization continued to grow in terms of the number of food banks and the volume of donated food. The concept and the practice of food banking had been accepted by both the food industry and local social service providers feeding hungry Americans.

With many major cities having food banks by the mid 1980's, network expansion slowed and America's Second Harvest's focus shifted to improving existing programs. Professionalism and efficiency of food bank operations improved dramatically, resulting in a much greater amount of food and grocery products being distributed by the Network.

In 1999, the name of the organization was officially changed to America's Second Harvest with a new focused goal on ending hunger in America. In March of 2000, America's Second Harvest merged with Foodchain, the nation's largest food-rescue organization - producing the most comprehensive and efficient charitable food rescue and distribution organization in the country.

Today, America's Second Harvest is the nation's largest charitable hunger-relief organization addressing the problem of domestic hunger by distributing 1.8 billion pounds of donated food and grocery products annually.

With a national network of over 200 Member food banks and food-rescue organizations throughout all 50 states and Puerto Rico, America's Second Harvest serves approximately 50,000 local charitable hunger-relief agencies, including food pantries, soup kitchens, women's shelters, and Kids Cafes.  America's Second Harvest provides emergency food assistance to more than 25 million hungry Americans, including nine million children and three million seniors, each year.