Federal Government Sets Up Plan to Limit Food Waste

Last Wednesday, the Biden Administration unveiled the nation's first comprehensive strategy to tackle a significant issue: food waste. Roughly 30% of the U.S. food supply is discarded, making food the largest category of material in landfills and incinerators. When food decomposes in landfills, it generates greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from dozens of coal-fired power plants each year.

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The plan aims to reduce waste through changes in business and consumer behavior, funding research to extend the shelf life of perishable foods, increasing food donations, and converting food waste into useful products such as compost, biogas, or animal feed.

However, the strategy lacks the regulatory “teeth” seen in other countries and some U.S. states. Dana Gunders, leader of ReFED, a food waste research and advocacy group, described the strategy as “a good first step.”

The U.S. set a goal in 2015 to halve food waste by 2030. Despite this, per capita food wastage increased between 2015 and 2019.

Why is so much food wasted? ReFED reported that in 2021, the U.S. produced 91 million tons of uneaten food, nearly half of which was still edible, yet only 2 percent was donated. About 20 percent of food is lost at the farm level, often because crops don’t meet retailers' standards or are unprofitable to harvest.

Retailers, restaurants, and industrial kitchens discard unsold food. At home, many people throw away food that is still safe to eat, partly due to confusing “best by” labels.

There have been some successes in reducing food waste. Between 2019 and 2022, eight supermarket chains reported a 25 percent reduction in unsold food after pledging to cut wastage. Startups are also tackling the issue with AI to optimize inventory and apps offering discounts on soon-to-expire items.

Internationally, South Korea has banned food waste from trash bins for over 20 years, using it instead for compost, animal feed, or biogas. France requires municipalities to provide composting options and mandates that supermarkets donate safe, unsold food.

In the U.S., California leads with laws requiring grocery stores to donate edible food or face fines. Large restaurants, hotels, and hospital cafeterias are also subject to these rules. California aims to reduce organic waste in landfills by 75 percent from 2014 levels by 2025, necessitating new composting facilities and biogas production.

Other states have different rules. Washington requires grocery stores to donate edible food, Vermont mandates composting for residents, Maryland offers tax credits to farmers donating food, Massachusetts limits food waste in landfills, and New York pushes large food corporations and restaurants to donate leftover food and recycle scraps if facilities are nearby.

The White House plan includes funding for research into technologies to extend food shelf life, such as new seed varieties and better packaging. It also aims to study effective consumer messaging to reduce household food waste and educate students on waste prevention, particularly in school cafeterias, which are significant waste sources. The Department of Agriculture is working with farmers and crop insurance agents to reduce food loss on farms.