SPRING 2018 SMART BUSINESS RECYCLING NEWSLETTER
Announcement
New Website Launch: Los Angeles County Department of Public Works' Food DROP Program (www.FoodDROPLA.com)
Los Angeles County residents and businesses throw away about 3.7 billion pounds of food each year. Meanwhile, over half a million Los Angeles County residents are food insecure. To assist County Unincorporated Area businesses in safely and easily donating their excess edible food, the County has developed the Food Donation and Recovery Outreach Program (Food DROP). To learn about relevant laws, protection from liability, and to locate a non-profit which can accept edible food from your business click here
News
Each year, more than one billion tons of food is wasted worldwide. The land required to produce the amount of globally wasted food would be roughly the size of China and the pile of food would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. In the United States, approximately 40% of all food is wasted. Meanwhile, 1 out of 7 people in Los Angeles County are food insecure (lacking regular access to quality nutritious meals). We have collected some stories of what others are doing to help reduce wasted food.
How Technologies are Cutting Food Waste Across the Supply Chain
Technology is playing a key role in reducing and preventing food waste across the supply chain by facilitating data sharing and providing insight gleaned from that data at unprecedented speeds. To read the full article click here.
How Food Businesses are Taking the Lead to Reduce Waste
According to ReFED, a national nonprofit focused on food waste solutions, food waste across the supply chain is worth $218 billion and contributes to 63 million tons of waste per year. But with good strategies, food waste can be reduced by 20 percent over the next 10 years, generating $100 billion in savings. To read the full article click here. To access ReFed's Roadmap to Reduce U.S. Food Waste by 20 percent and other resource guides, please click here.
Fourth-grader leaves mark on school recycling project
Joslyn Stamp, a fourth-grader at Fairview Elementary School in Bellevue, NE was researching ways to recycle and that’s when she learned about Crayola’s ColorCycle initiative. Any type of marker can be recycled including dry erase, permanent, and highlighters. Joslyn didn’t expect students to care about her project, but to her surprise, students collected 100 markers on the first day by going through shared marker bins. To read the full article click here.
Why Reducing Food Waste in School Meal Programs Matters
School foodservice directors have great pressures to meet federal, state, and local demands for nutrition, safety, and lunchroom participation. This article explores the impact of uneaten food in terms of both food waste and nutritional intake, and explores food-focused strategies and activities to increase consumption and mitigate waste. To read the full article click here.
How to End Food Waste at Your School
Every year, an estimated 1 billion unpeeled and unopened food items are discarded from American schools. In 2011, the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act was amended to clarify that schools participating in the school lunch program may donate any unconsumed food to eligible food banks and 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, and be exempt from civil and criminal liability to the extent provided under the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act. However, many schools are unaware of the support for school food recovery from the United States Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Agency. To read the full article click here. To read an FAQ provided by Food Rescue click here.
Laws/Ordinances
Legislature Passes Bills to Cut Food Waste
California state legislature passed two Bills that offer solutions to some of the leading causes of wasted food. Over 5.5 million tons of food is dumped in landfills every year in California, and an alarming amount of that landfilled food is edible at the time it’s thrown out.
SB 1383, The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the State agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The State board is required to approve a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020. The State board is also required to complete a comprehensive strategy to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants, as defined, by the State. To learn more about SB 1383 click here.
AB 1219, the California Good Samaritan Food Donation Act authored by Assemblymember Susan Talamantes Eggman (D- Stockton), strengthens and expands a 1977 law that protects food donors from legal liability, in order to encourage food donations.
AB 954, authored by Assemblymember David Chiu (D- San Francisco), promotes the use of uniform phrases for food expiration dates in an effort to reduce an estimated 20% of consumer food waste that comes from the misinterpretation of date labels. This Bill will help narrow the number of confusing phrases used including “best by,” “best before,” “sell by,” “enjoy by”, “expires,” and others.