The Rethink Food Waste Through Economics and Data (ReFED) report, presented this week at Stanford University, reveals that food waste costs the United States $218 billion a year. The report quantifies the amount the country spends growing, manufacturing, transporting and disposing of food that is never eaten.
Overall, Americans waste up to 40 percent of their food, and the goal of the report is to reduce that by 20 percent within a decade, in line with Obama Administration goals.
In addition to pinpointing the main sources of food waste, the Roadmap to Reduce Food Waste offered 27 possible responses to the problem, such as making sell-by dates more consistent, developing packaging to extend shelf life, improving technology that matches donated food to organizations that feed the hungry, and creating better tax incentives for companies and individuals who donate food.
According to the report, 42.8 percent of food waste happens in the home and 39.7 percent in grocery stores and restaurants; the remaining 15.9 percent at farms and 1.6 percent in manufacturing. So beyond the moral and environmental issues surrounding waste, businesses and investors have an incentive to tackle the problem.
Incentives offered
Late last year, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, authored a measure in the House that creates a permanent tax deduction for supermarkets, restaurants and farmers who donate excess food to food banks and other charitable food organizations. She is also working on legislation to standardize sell-by dates across manufacturing for more clarity.
In the Bay Area, more companies are finding innovative uses for food that’s routinely wasted, namely in “ugly” produce. An estimated 6 billion tons of fruit and vegetables go unharvested annually at farms simply because they are cosmetically challenged, misshapen or simply the wrong size.
Money-saving service
One such enterprise is Emeryville’s Imperfect, which provides home delivery of ugly produce to 2,700 East Bay customers at a 30 percent discount from supermarket prices. It also offers a discount to low-income customers. In April, it will launch a line in Northern California Whole Foods stores and expand its home delivery to San Francisco.
Ad campaign
To discourage waste at home, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Ad Council will come out with a public awareness campaign this spring.
