The National Consumers League (NCL), the nation’s oldest consumer organization, is seeking industry partners for a consumer education program directed at reducing food waste. IDFA has been a supporter of NCL for their work on food safety and other dairy issues.

NCL will incorporate new lessons about food waste into its LifeSmarts program, which has an expansive school network reaching 125,000 students in 42 states annually.

“NCL’s efforts to educate youth on preventing food waste are consistent with research that indicates the vast majority of food waste occurs with consumers,” said Ruth Saunders, IDFA vice president for policy and legislative affairs. “Food waste has recently become a hot topic with Congress and the administration.”

Last year the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency announced the nation’s first-ever food waste reduction goal, which is to reduce food waste 50 percent by 2030.

NCL will launch a Food Waste Challenge in schools from kindergarten through high school and has multiple sponsorship opportunities for food companies that would like to help develop the educational curriculum or support other aspects of NCL’s LifeSmarts program.

For more information about food waste and sponsorship opportunities with NCL, contact Molly Pfaffenroth, IDFA legislative assistant, at mpfaffenroth@idfa.org or 202-220-3528.