Food Waste: A Problem We Can Solve

In 1996, the United States Congress passed The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, which protects good faith food donors from civil, and criminal liability, should the food later cause harm to its recipient. This federal law, signed by President Clinton, protects restaurants, supermarkets, and other food-industry businesses while allowing them to donate their food surplus to those in need.

According to the USDA, there are over thirteen million “food insecure” families living in America. That means that thirteen million families lack access to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members. According to a report in the Guardian, 50% of all produce in the U.S. is thrown away – that’s roughly 60 million tons of food. Not to mention, the anaerobic conditions in traditional landfills cause the release of methane gas from the food waste. Methane, a greenhouse gas, has an environmental warming potential 21 times that of carbon dioxide.

Late one night, I was witness to a major big box store discarding fresh made food just before closing. A worker was dumping approximately 20 hot rotisserie chickens into a rolling garbage can. I asked the worker why they weren’t donating them, and he told me that it was company policy to throw the chickens, along with all of the fresh produce that had met it’s “sell by” dates into garbage dumpsters behind the store. He said that they put locks on the dumpsters so that nobody can get to the food.

Not even the employees are allowed to take the food home for their families. The only excuse he could come up with was that he thought the company was afraid of being sued if they gave the food to somebody and it got them sick. I have since gone to my two local supermarkets right before closing, and have witnessed the same thing.

Two very important benefits of tackling the hunger problem in America would be solving the excess food waste problem, and lowering the greenhouse gas emissions from our landfills. It is a win-win-win situation that needs to be addressed immediately. With The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act in place, food industry establishments have no excuse for throwing their food waste in the garbage instead of giving it to those in need.

People are suffering from hunger and the solution is within our reach. It would not cost companies one extra penny to donate their food waste to those in need. American society must start promoting and demanding that excess food donation becomes company policy. Hunger is a massive problem, but one that could be minimized by simple, costless donation of excess food.