Up to 40 percent of food in the U.S. is wasted annually, valued at more than $160 million and weighing more than 130 billion pounds.
In an attempt to curb this waste, the USDA, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have teamed up to form the Food Waste Reduction Alliance (FWRA).
In addition to the trio of agencies, the Grocery Manufacturers Association, Food Marketing Institute and National Restaurant Association are also founding partners of the FWRA. The diverse array of groups helps represent the major sectors of the supply chain.
The alliance was first launched in fall 2018 to increase collaboration and coordination in terms of reducing food loss and waste. In early April, the group released the fiscal year (FY) 2019-2020 strategy, which has been implemented with the start of the new FY in October.
“Reducing food loss and waste has many environmental and social benefits. By collaborating with these major segments of the food supply chain, we are making progress toward the national goal to reduce food loss and waste by 50 percent by 2030,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler.
FWRA plans to reduce the amount of food waste generated, increase the amount of food donated to those in need and divert food waste from landfills.
The purpose
The formal agreement between the collaborating parties states, “In order to reduce food
loss and waste, it will take the entire supply chain including farms, processors, food manufacturers, grocery stores, restaurants, universities, schools, landfills, federal, state, tribal and local governments, faith-based institutions, environmental organizations, and communities working together to achieve innovative solutions.”
The strategy includes six key target goals:
• Enhance interagency coordination;
• Increase consumer education and outreach efforts;
• Improve coordination and guidance on food loss and waste management;
• Clarify and communicate information on food safety, food date labels and food donations;
• Collaborate with private industry to reduce food loss and waste across the supply chain; and
• Encourage food waste reduction by federal agencies in their respective facilities.
“USDA shares many common goals with the FWRA, including our belief in the power of teamwork,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. “We are proud to join this public-private partnership to prompt action throughout the food system.”
Outreach efforts
The alliance plans to collaborate on a national scale to educate and engage all sectors of the food industry on best practices to reduce food waste and increase food safety. An additional goal is to better understand infrastructure gaps and other constraints that affect food donation and scrap recycling, and adopting new technology for improvements.
“The issues of food waste and food safety go hand in hand and we will continue to work with our federal partners and other stakeholders on enhancing our efforts to reduce food waste and do it safely,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless. “We are committed to doing all that we can to support safe and sound food policy decisions that are good for our families, good for our communities, and good for our planet.”
The FWRA is part of a larger collaborative effort through the Winning on Reducing Food Waste Initiative among the USDA, EPA and FDA to reduce food waste and loss through specific action.
The agencies aim to encourage long-term reductions through research, community investments, education and outreach, voluntary programs, event participation and policy discussion. — Anna Miller, WLJ editor
“By collaborating with these major segments of the food supply chain, we are making progress toward the national goal to reduce food loss and waste by 50 percent by 2030.”
“USDA shares many common goals with the FWRA, including our belief in the power of teamwork.”
