The Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic, the Natural Resource Defense Council, along with ReFED and WWF, have sent the Biden administration and Congress a 5-point action plan to reduce Food Loss and Waste (FLW). In parallel, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has issued guidelines to encourage the safe donation of surpluses.
Indeed, one of the greatest paradoxes of our time is the number of people who still go hungry, more than 800 million according to the FAO, and the enormous amount of food that is wasted every day. (1)
Food Loss and Waste, the U.S. Plan
Food waste is distinguished two groups:
- food loss is the waste of food that occurs early in the supply chain. It occurs mainly at the post-harvest stage when food is not harvested or is damaged during processing, transport, or storage and is discarded. Fifty-four percent of total waste occurs at this stage, and most of it occurs in developing countries,
- food waste occurs at the final stage of the production chain and involves food distributors and consumers. Waste is mainly concentrated in middle- and high-income regions and at the household level: 570 million tons of food out of 931 is wasted at home, 74 kg per capita per year.
Food waste also represents a waste of resources and energy. Along with food, we waste 253 cubic kilometers of drinking water, a third of the land that is deforested and the pesticides used there. Six percent of greenhouse gas emissions and 3 percent of climate-altering gases are also emitted due to fermentation in landfills. (2,3)
Data on Food Loss and Waste are uncertain due to the lack of food tracking.
The European Commission is planning a legislative proposal for 2023 to reduce waste, in line with the Farm to fork strategy and the UN 2030 goals (SDG n 12,3). (4) In this regard, the relevant U.S. authority has issued recommendations to decrease food loss and waste and guidelines to facilitate food donation.
The Food Loss and Waste of the United States.
U.S. Food Loss and Waste ranges between 30 and 40 percent of food produced each year. It means $408 billion a year, about 2 percent of the country’s GDP and 4 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. And the pandemic has amplified the situation as in the rest of the world.
The authors of “A call to action on U.S. food loss & waste policy” have compiled a list of 5 actions to reduce food loss and food waste accompanied by recommendations to the Administration and Congress to achieve the UN goal. (5)
1) Invest in prevention and keep waste out of landfills
Food represents the largest weight element in U.S. landfills and incinerators. Therefore, investments need to be made to reduce waste and save excess food as well as to improve waste measurement and recycling.
Improving the management of organic waste, including through upcycling in addition to bringing social and environmental benefits, has the potential to create 18,000 new jobs each year until 2030. Donations and composting of organic waste should be encouraged, and restrictions loosened to make sure that waste not suitable for human consumption is used for animal feed.
2) Enable the donation of excess food
Less than 10% of food is donated rather than wasted. The USDA should encourage direct sales by farmers and allow them to donate surpluses to hungry families.
This should be done by expanding the federal tax deduction for donations and providing tax credits for farmers who want to donate produce. At the same time, the regulations must be implemented by food safety regulations specific to donations.
3) Showing U.S. leadership at home and abroad.
The United States, under the Biden administration, has rejoined the Paris Agreement and is targeting the decarbonization of the agribusiness sector. Reducing pollution requires redoubling efforts to reduce waste as the country is one of the top in food waste per capita.
According to the plan, 50 million should be allocated for research and innovation in Food Loss and Waste to divert food from landfills to donation or composting.
4) Educate and activate consumers
Thirty-seven percent of waste in the U.S. occurs at the household level. There is a need to invest in public campaigns to educate consumers toward reducing waste.
Action must also be taken in school canteens to reduce waste and increase students’ consumption of fruits and vegetables.
5) Standardize national date labeling.
The ‘BEST if Used By ‘ and ‘USE By’ claims work only if they are applied across the country and if consumers are educated in interpreting them. Today, 85 percent of food is thrown away prematurely by consumers even though it is still safe, and donation by stores also finds difficulties.
Removing obstacles to food donations
The new 2022 Food Code has been supplemented by the FDA with a section on food donations by food establishments, an aspect of the Biden-Harris administration’s National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health.(6)
Food donations have never been banned by U.S. law however, it is assumed that explicit provision of this possibility helps to increase them and thus reduce waste. Therefore, the donation of food that is stored, prepared, packaged, displayed and labeled in accordance with the law and this code is promoted. (7)
Conclusions
Achieving the goal of halving food waste by 2030 will not be easy. While we wait for updated legislation in this area, consumers can play an important role in preventing food waste. It is important to be more careful with purchases, prefer bulk food, and adhere to apps such as too good to go.
The European Union has funded a project within the Horizon Europe program called Wasteless with the aim of reducing food waste and losses. The project aims to develop innovative tools to monitor FLW that will be tested in different scenarios along the food chain, from families to large-scale retail trade. Reducing FLW is also a necessary step to mitigate climate change.
Alessandra Mei
Notes
(1) UN report: rise to 828 million people suffering from hunger in the world in 2021. https://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/world-food-day-2022-food-security-agriculture-FAO/it
(2) Given European Commission, Biodegradable waste https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/waste-and-recycling/biodegradable-waste_en
(3) FAO, Food waste burdens climate, water resources, soil and biodiversity, https://www.fao.org/news/story/it/item/196458/icode/
(4) FAO, Sustainable Development Goals, https://www.fao.org/sustainable-development-goals/indicators/1231/en/
5) A call to action on US food loss & waste policy https://foodwasteactionplan.org/
6) Biden-Harris Administration national strategy on hunger, nutrition, and health https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/White-House-National-Strategy-on-Hunger-Nutrition-and-Health-FINAL.pdf
7) https://www.fda.gov/media/164194/download
Graduated in Law from the University of Bologna, she attended the Master in Food Law at the same University. You participate in the WIISE srl benefit team by dedicating yourself to European and international research and innovation projects.
. In parallel, FDA issues guidelines to encourage donation.The Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic, the Natural Resource Defense Council, along with ReFED and WWF, have sent a 5-point action plan to the Biden administration and Congress to reduce Food Loss and Waste (FLW).){kind=link}