Eliminating Food Waste, Beginning in our Local Grocery Stores

"Farmers Market" by Justin Sewell licensed under CC BY 2.0
Farmers Market” by Justin Sewell licensed under CC BY 2.0

Source: Huffington Post

Approximately 40 percent of food produced in the United States ends up in the trash; to reduce this percentage, political leaders in the food recovery movement are creating policy around supermarket food waste.

In 2010 alone, supermarkets around the country wasted $46 billion in food, approximately 43 billion pounds of food, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Food Recovery Act and Food Date Labeling Act, if passed, will require food markets to donate or compost food that is near or at its expiration date, and will protect said markets from being sued if the donated food causes sickness to a consumer; the Food Date Labeling Act will develop standardized labeling for foods, which does not exist at the moment and is handled at the discretion of individual supermarkets.

By encouraging supermarkets to initiate food waste management, both food producers and consumers will likely make informed decisions that will lead to overall reduction of food waste; experts estimate that if legislation passes, 398,000 pounds of food will be saved per year.

Read full story at: Huffington Post

Justice & Poverty, News
Justice & Poverty, News