Forgotten Harvest has appointed Adrian Lewis as the new CEO of the Oak Park-based food rescue organization. Lewis succeeds former CEO Kirk Mayes, who stepped down from the position at the end of 2022. 

Previously, Lewis served as market director for Meijer Inc., overseeing Detroit, Flint, and Cincinnati regions. In 2013, he spearheaded the launch of Meijer’s first supercenter in Detroit on Woodward and Eight Mile. He holds an executive MBA from Howard University.

Forgotten Harvest, founded in 1990, serves Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties. The agency sources food from grocery stores, markets, restaurants, farmers, and wholesale distributors. The food is then distributed free of charge to emergency food providers across metro Detroit. The organization partners with 84 pantries in Detroit and serves approximately 750,000 people annually.

Lewis sat down with “American Black Journal” host Stephen Henderson to discuss the increased demand for Forgotten Harvest’s services due to rising food costs and economic disparities. Plus, he highlights the organization’s summer feeding program for youth, its new facility, and a client choice market that allows individuals to select their food as they would in a grocery store.

Watch the full interview from Detroit PBS. 👇