Tag: NRDC

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US Food Loss and Waste Policy Action Plan Pitched to Congress

Screen shot of https://foodwasteactionplan.org/.
Screen shot of https://foodwasteactionplan.org/.

 

As reported in the April 8, 2021 issue of Waste Dive,

“An action plan to curb food loss and waste in the U.S. — pitched to Congress and the Biden administration this week by four organizations and supported by a host of cities, businesses and nonprofits — recommends funding infrastructure that keeps organic waste out of disposal sites by providing state- and city-level investments for measuring, rescuing and recycling it.

Led by the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC), Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), ReFED and World Wildlife Fund, the plan also stipulates that federal facilities take steps to prevent organic waste and purchase finished compost products. The organizers urge lawmakers to spur growth of compost markets among private sector buyers as well. 

The plan calls for allocating $650 million annually through at least 2030 to states and cities for organic waste recycling infrastructure and other food waste reduction strategies. It also calls for $50 million for those cities and states to pursue public-private partnerships; $50 million in grants for research and innovation in the space; $3 million annually through 2030 for consumer food waste reduction research and behavior change campaigns; and $2 million to add personnel to the Federal Interagency Food Loss and Waste Collaboration…

Signatories to the policy outline include the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, the US Composting Council and Vanguard Renewables.

Currently, city offices in Atlanta, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Madison, Wisconsin, have also formally supported the plan.

While the plan points to job creation, climate and food donation benefits that have resulted from more comprehensive organics laws in California, Massachusetts and Vermont, it also lays out a number of other individual steps local governments can take. They include mandating food scrap recycling, enacting pay-as-you-throw policies and increasing disposal tip fees by adding taxes per unit of trash.”

Read the full story at https://www.wastedive.com/news/food-waste-action-plan-biden-congress-nrdc-refed/598032/.

See also the NRDC’s announcement of the plan and download the action plan itself at https://foodwasteactionplan.org/.

 

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NRDC Launches Two Regional “Food Matters” Cohorts

In a previous post, we highlighted a toolkit from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Food Matters program, consisting of resources to assist municipalities as they tackle various food waste issues. Shortly after the release of this toolkit, NRDC also announced the creation of two Food Matters Regional Initiatives, consisting of cohorts of cities. The Mid-Atlantic cohort includes Baltimore, MD (hub); Jersey City, NJ; Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, PA; and Washington, D.C. The Southeast cohort includes Nashville, TN (hub); Asheville, NC; Atlanta, GA; Memphis TN, and Orlando, FL.

From the NRDC blog: ‘Starting with the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, we are launching a Food Matters Regional Initiative, with the goal of furthering larger-scale change related to food waste at a regional level. From a pool of regional applicant cities, we selected five cities to participate in each regional initiative, including previous partner cities as “hub cities” in each region…Our cohorts will include city representatives who will network with one another, with NRDC, and with local partner organizations to set goals, develop workplans, and identify regional strategies that help maximize their resources. NRDC will work with each city to estimate their baseline food waste generation and rescue potential and to provide technical assistance on developing food waste strategies that help bolster their broader food systems, sustainability, and climate goals.’

To learn more about the regional initiatives and work done in specific cities (including those not included in regional initiatives), visit the Food Matters web site and click on “Where We Work.”

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NRDC Releases “Food Matters” Resources to Guide Municipal Food Waste Efforts

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has announced the availability of a compendium of resources from its “Food Matters” project. The resources are meant to assist municipalities as they tackle various food waste issues. Read the full press release on the NRDC web site at https://www.nrdc.org/media/2020/200616:

“The Food Matters Program and Policy Toolkit is designed for city policymakers and agency staff nationwide who are seeking to advance a program or implement policies to prevent food from becoming waste, increase donation of surplus food, and recycle food scraps. Alongside the toolkit is a curated set of guides to tackle food waste at the local level which have proven successful in NRDC’s work with Food Matters cities. The toolkit and templates are designed to meet cities at different stages of their food waste journey, providing users with practical resources to take both incremental steps towards city-wide change as well as bold accelerated strategies.”

Case studies from cities such as Baltimore, Denver, Nashville, and New York are included in the resource compendium.

View the full compendium at https://www.nrdc.org/food-matters.

screenshot of food matters pages on NRDC web site

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Minneapolis Public Schools Release ‘True Food, No Waste’ Action Plan

Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) have recently released a plan to reduce costs and food waste in school cafeterias and kitchens.  As reported by JoAnne Berkenkamp and Jonathan Bloom on the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) blog,

‘The school district today released a new “True Food, No Waste” action plan for curtailing wasted food in school cafeterias and kitchens…Developed in concert with NRDC and consultant Jonathan Bloom, the district’s plan offers an innovative model for schools around the country to follow. It also highlights an important area of opportunity for city governments as they commit to tackling wasted food in their communities.’

The plan includes a focus on ‘fresh food prepared in on-site kitchens,” and follows the EPA Food Waste Reduction hierarchy, incorporating plans for food waste prevention, diverting surplus food for human consumption, and diverting food scraps from landfill through composting.

You can read the entire NRDC blog post at https://www.nrdc.org/experts/joanne-berkenkamp/k-12-and-food-waste-reduction-innovations-heartl.

The “True Food, No Waste” Plan is available at https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/minneapolis-k-12-food-waste-action-plan-201901.pdf.

Cover of MPS plan