Three U.S. regulatory agencies last week committed to a new food waste initiative designed to help educate Americans on the impact and importance of reducing food loss and waste. Called, “Winning on Reducing Food Waste,” the agreement establishes a formal food waste partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Stemming food waste is an issue important to IDFA members. Most recently, the association advocated that Congress dedicate $1.5 million in federal funding to help ice cream companies find ways to become more sustainable and prevent valuable nutrients from going to waste.
‘Winning on Reducing Food Waste’
The initiative builds on the USDA and EPA’s U.S. Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champions initiative, which highlights companies, such as Kroger, General Mills and Walmart, that have committed to reduce food waste 50 percent by 2030.
The three agencies will now coordinate on a strategic plan to educate companies and consumers throughout the supply chain on best practices to reduce food loss and waste in the growing, manufacturing, transporting, selling and disposing of food, handling, preparation and storage of food, as well as creating new uses for excess food.
The agencies are soliciting feedback from stakeholders about how they can work together at the federal level and leverage partners throughout the supply chain to have a national impact on reducing food loss and waste in the long term.
IDFA is working with its task force for food waste and code dating to determine next steps relevant to this new initiative.
For more information on how to become a U.S Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champion, click here.
Members with questions may contact Cary Frye, IDFA senior vice president of regulatory affairs, at cfrye@idfa.org.