Fighting Food Waste, One Sector at a Time

America is one of the largest offenders of food waste in the world, according to a recent survey. Every year, roughly 1.3 billion tons of food is thrown out worldwide, a considerable problem given that agriculture contributes about 22 percent of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions and 12.7 million people go hungry in America alone. Entrepreneurs across several sectors have created ways to repurpose food. Their efforts are admirable and economical, but the biggest difference will be if you make food waste reduction a daily habit.

Recovered food from the University of Denver Food Recovery Network chapter.

On College Campuses

On average, a student who lives in university housing throws out 141 pounds of food per year. Multiply that by the number of residential colleges around the country, and it becomes a huge problem, says Regina Northouse, executive director for the Food Recovery Network, the only nonprofit dealing specifically with campus food waste.
WATCH: How Much Food Could Be Rescued If College Dining Halls Saved Their Leftovers?
Northouse’s group reduces waste by enlisting the help of student volunteers at 226 universities. This manpower shuttles still-edible food from dining halls that would otherwise be thrown out to local nonprofits fighting hunger. Northouse estimates that since 2011, Food Recovery Network has fed 150,000 food-insecure people.

Through the box-subscription company Hungry Harvest, farmers sell “ugly food” to consumers instead of tossing the unsightly produce out.

On Farms

If a carrot isn’t quite orange enough, odds are it’ll be tossed. Blemishes and unattractive produce make up nearly 40 percent of discarded food, according to a 2012 study by the Natural Resources Defense Council. Though some unused fruits and veggies can be sent to food manufacturers, farmers lose profits from about a quarter of their crops because of cosmetic imperfections. To put money back into their pockets, box subscriptions services, such as Hungry Harvest, have found their way into the ugly food market.
“We started out with 10 customers at a stand,” says Stacy Carroll, director of partnerships for Hungry Harvest. “We now have thousands of customers every week buying thousands of pounds of food that would, in the past, have been thrown away.”
Roughly 10,000 subscribers along the East Coast receive weekly boxes of recovered produce from the Baltimore-based company (which was started by the founders of Food Recovery Network). In addition, food insecure families who use SNAP benefits can purchase boxes at 10 Hungry Harvest sites. All in all, the organization redistributes between 60,000 and 80,000 pounds of food through its subscription service each week.

MealConnect provides a platform for retailers to redistribute unsold produce to those in need.

At Food Retailers

For merchants, food wasted is also money wasted. Across the U.S., the cost of tossing food runs upward of $165 billion annually.
MealConnect, a tech platform launched in April by Feeding America (a nationwide network of food banks), allows retailers to post surplus meals and unused produce on its app, which then notifies local food banks workers to pick it up and redistribute it to those in need. The company has recovered 333 million pounds of food by working with large retailers like Walmart and Starbucks. MealConnect also allows merchants to recoup some of their outlays (via tax deductions).

Chef Dan Barber’s wastED pop-ups challenged chefs to create innovate dishes using produce that otherwise would have been thrown out.

In Restaurants

In 2015, the aptly named food popup wastED found itself in the heart of a media frenzy because of what was on the menu: trashed food. 
Since then, a handful of other restaurants in urban areas across the world have used recovered produce in their meals.
“We’re offering our cooks the opportunity to be creative and come up with menus instead,” says Brooklyn, N.Y., chef Przemek Adolf, owner of Saucy By Nature, which uses leftovers from previous catering events to create daily lunch and dinner specials.

The USDA’s FoodKeeper app educates consumers on how to extend the shelf life of stored foods.

In Your Own Kitchen

Individual families throw away nearly $1,600 worth of food per year, according to the EPA, which has spurred the federal government to step in and help.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture created the app FoodKeeper, which informs consumers on how long an apple can last in the fridge, for example, and proper food storage techniques to extend shelf life. It also sends out reminder alerts to use up food that’s in danger of spoiling. The desired outcome? People changing their behaviors, ultimately buying less and consuming what they do purchase.
 

This New Federal Program Provides Better Food to Low-Income Individuals

A new federal program will allow low-income families to eat healthier food and spur the local economy at the same time.
The Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI), approved alongside this year’s Farm Bill, will put $100 million over the next five years into the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP, aka food stamps). As CBS News reports, the money will go towards programs such as Double Up Food Bucks, which allows farmer’s markets to match the amount a SNAP recipient might spend, meaning they can double up on fresh fruits and vegetables. According to NPR, the $100 million will also be matched by private funding, so there’s a potential of $200 million going towards the program.
Crossroads Farmers Market, outside of Washington D.C., is one of the many farmer’s markets that already run a similar program. Rosie Sanchez, a SNAP recipient and market volunteer, tells NPR that the program “is very important…You know why? Because I get up to $15 for free. So I have $30 every week. With my $30, I’m able to buy fresh, local — it’s not expensive. It’s the best!”
MORE: An Oasis in One of America’s Largest Food Deserts: the Local Quick Mart
The initiative is important because the average daily amount offered to low-income Americans through SNAP is only $4.50 a day. And because fruits and vegetables at the grocery store tend to be more expensive than, say, a bag of chips, recipients can develop health concerns due to poor diets, such as heart disease, diabetes or obesity. Thanks to the new program,  SNAP recipients have effectively doubled their purchasing power for healthier fare.
A policy brief from the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Johns Hopkins Center found that “if Americans increased their daily consumption of these foods to meet federal dietary recommendations, the nation’s costs related to the treatment of cardiovascular disease alone could drop by $17 billion.”
Another plus with FINI is that it entices communities that are considered food deserts (low-income areas with limited access to fresh produce) to start farmer’s markets. Encouragingly, access to local fruits and vegetables is already increasing, the Project for Public Spaces (PPS) found that the number of farmer’s markets increased from 2,863 in 2000 to 7,175 in 2011.
An investment of $100 million over five years doesn’t sound like a lot of money when the payoff could be much bigger.
DON’T MISS: 50 Million Americans Suffer From Food Insecurity. Here Are 6 Simple Ways You Can Help

While Civil Unrest Rocks Their Community, This Teacher is Working to Prevent Ferguson’s Kids from Going Hungry

Since police shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed, college-bound teenager in Ferguson, Mo., the violent unrest in the small town near St. Louis has yet to cease. With outrage and confusion coming from all directions, basic safety and calm are at a premium. Families are in danger, and as a result, school has been canceled for at least the remainder of this week.
In Ferguson, a week off from school means more than just missed lessons.
The poverty rate there is almost double Missouri’s average, so unfortunately, many kids don’t get proper nutrition unless they are in school, according to the Huffington Post.
Thankfully, Juliana Mendelsohn, a teacher in Raleigh, N.C., recognized the need to provide food and launched an online campaign to raise money for hungry children in Ferguson. Appealing for donations on the crowd funding site Fundly, Mendelsohn says, “when I found out school had been canceled for several days as a result of the civil unrest, I immediately became worried for the students in households with food instability.”
So far, over $78,000 has been raised by thousands of donors (as of publication), with another two days left to reach the goal of $80,000. Dennis Hu, Fundly’s CEO, was so impressed with the mission and success of the campaign that he personally called Mendelsohn to express his support for her.
All the money raised goes directly to help those in need through the St. Louis Area Foodbank, which says the funds are substantial enough to continue making a difference for the next year.
“Regardless of your opinion on the civil unrest in Ferguson,” Mendelsohn continued, “there is no need for innocent children to go hungry because of it.”
If you’re interested in donating, click here.
DON’T MISS: When School’s Not in Session, NYC Food Trucks Are Serving Hungry Kids

North Carolina’s Food Stamp Crisis Is Nearly Resolved, But It’s Not Too Late to Help

Needy families in North Carolina will finally get the help they’ve been waiting for. Officials at the state’s Department Health and Human Services have made significant progress in clearing the backlog of food stamp applications that topped out at nearly 35,000 unresolved cases in mid-January. The U.S. Department of Agriculture gave the state until February 10 to process the applications and renewals that were pending for more than 90 days or categorized as “emergencies.” Federal guidelines demand that officials process food stamp applications within 30 days. On Monday, data showed that only 3,600 backlogged applications remained — less than half of the 7,700 applications that were reportedly unresolved on January 30. Case managers must complete the remaining applications before February 10 or risk losing about $88 million in funding.
MORE: How to Double the Value of Food Stamps and Get the Best Fresh Food
Problems with North Carolina’s food stamp system began in July, when the state rolled out NC FAST, a new system that was, ironically, supposed to streamline the process of applying for and receiving social services. But that isn’t the only issue. Liz Scott, assistant human services director in Wake County, one of the areas most affected by the backlog, said that staff in her county can’t keep up with the increasing demand for benefits. “This isn’t an NC FAST issue alone,” Scott told WRAL. “That is one factor in a number of factors that have caused us to be this far behind.” Considering that almost 1.6 million people in the state participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in October 2013, according to the most recent data, hopefully the issues will be resolved so families can continue to get the help they need. In the mean time, ordinary citizens may have to step up to help feed their communities. You can find a list of North Carolina food banks here.
MORE: The One Issue That Can Bring Cory Booker and Rand Paul Together

How to Double the Value of Food Stamps and Get the Best Fresh Food

San Diego put a smart spin on food stamp programs. For individuals families receiving government assistance, the Farmers’ Market Fresh Fund Initiative provides incentives for making healthy choices. Participants in the program can purchase Fresh Fund tokens (using cash or benefits cards), and the incentive basically doubles the tokens, giving them double the purchasing power, as long as they’re spending them on the healthy options at that market. Participants also complete surveys and share data, giving organizers a chance to analyze how active people are and share the statistics behind the success.