Government agencies partner with alliance to fight food waste

Three government agencies are partnering with the Food Waste Reduction Alliance, with plans to formalize industry education and outreach with the three founders of the alliance.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection agency and Food and Drug Administration on Oct. 30 signed a Memo of Understanding with the alliance founders, the Grocery Manufacturers Association, Food Marketing Institute and National Restaurant Association, according to a news release from the government agencies.

The Food Waste Reduction Alliance seeks to:

• Reduce food waste;
• Increase the amount of food donated to those in need; and
• Divert food from landfills.

The news came at the Food Waste Summit, an event hosted by ReFED, Oct. 28-30 in San Francisco.

“The issues of food waste and food safety go hand in hand and we will continue to work with our federal partners and other stakeholders on enhancing our efforts to reduce food waste and do it safely,” Ned Sharpless, acting FDA commissioner, said in the release.

The FDA, USDA and EPA also released a Public Service Announcement on the importance of reducing food waste.

“Reducing food loss and waste has many environmental and social benefits,” Andrew Wheeler, EPA administrator, said in the release. “By collaborating with these major segments of the food supply chain, we are making progress toward the national goal to reduce food loss and waste by 50% by 2030.”  

The government and industry groups’ effort is called the Winning on Reducing Food Waste Initiative.

The three government agencies work on the initiative will include “research, community investments, education and outreach, voluntary programs, public-private partnerships, tool development, technical assistance, event participation and policy discussion,” according to the release.

At the Food Waste Summit, the government agencies recognized the efforts of the U.S. Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champions, a group that’s committed to cut food loss/waste in half by 2030.

That group includes:

• Ahold-Delhaize;
• The Compass Group;
• The Kroger Co.;
• Mom’s Organic Market;
• Sprouts Farmers Market;
• Walmart
• Wegmans; and
• Weis Markets.

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