I thought this September 16, 2015 news release from the USDA, USDA and EPA Join with Private Sector, Charitable Organizations to Set Nation's First Food Waste Reduction Goals, might be of interest, so I first checked to see whether there's a tag for foodwaste. (There is-- click here). Though they don't mention the USDA news release, there are a couple of recent diaries on the topic. A general web search turned up Food Waste in America - An Update, by Robocop, which may have gotten more views if it included more relevant tags. Facilitating more relevant tagging for Daily Kos diaries might be something worth looking into, but for now, I'll just post a few of my thoughts on food waste and the USDA initiative.
There are quite a few interesting facts in the USDA news release about food waste:
Food loss and waste in the United States accounts for approximately 31 percent--or 133 billion pounds--of the overall food supply available to retailers and consumers and has far-reaching impacts on food security, resource conservation and climate change. Food loss and waste is single largest component of disposed U.S. municipal solid waste, and accounts for a significant portion of U.S. methane emissions. Landfills are the third largest source of methane in the United States. Furthermore, experts have projected that reducing food losses by just 15 percent would provide enough food for more than 25 million Americans every year, helping to sharply reduce incidences of food insecurity for millions.
The Congressional acts governing the USDA, often referred to as "farm bills," are known mainly for farm subsidies and food assistance programs. Unsurprisingly, little attention is given to the USDA's other programs, which together accounted for less than 1% of the 2014 farm bill budget. That's unfortunate, because much potential good that could come from such initiatives if more people knew about them. The statistics quoted above may convey a slightly exaggerated impression of the volume of methane emissions generated by food waste, but it's also true that methane is a much more potent global warming driver than CO2. Of course, the USDA and the EPA have their critics from both ends of the political spectrum, but they are at least trying to call attention to the problem of food waste, without an enormous expenditure of tax dollars.
The USDA's Food Waste Challenge web page has numerous links to information and resources. The consumer tips include many suggestions that will seem obvious, but if you take a look you might learn something useful. There are blogs, classroom resources, webinars and other resources that may also be of interest, and materials on the USDA site may be freely copied and redistributed. I found one link, Food Waste Images, particularly encouraging in its suggestion that public-private partnerships can be successful:
USDA hosted a "Wasted Food" exhibit at the 2015 Agricultural Outlook Forum that took place in February. The table featured food samples like cookies, fruit & vegetable wraps, 100% fruit bars, and carrot chips made from food items that would have normally been thrown away. USDA Agricultural Research Service is working with companies & farmers to develop these products not only to reduce food waste, but to also generate new sources of income and jobs for those communities. For food that is not fit for human consumption, the exhibit featured plastics and clothing products made from food waste. Ford Motor Company showed samples of their tomato plastic made from the tomato pomace (leftover pulpy material) of the Heinz ketchup making process. This tomato plastic is used in the interior of some Ford cars. The clothes on display at the exhibit were made from coffee grounds or coconut coir, waste items that would have normally been sent to a landfills by the millions of tons. The U.S. Food Waste Challenge wants to showcase these innovations and collaborations to show how much economic opportunity there is in reducing, recovering, and recycling wasted food.