Now Let’s Take Action on Food Waste

Danielle Nierenberg

Danielle Nierenberg

Over the years, the conversations we’ve been having about food waste have changed.

At first, it was an effort to raise awareness that food waste was actually happening and worth addressing! And organizations across the food system have been very active in measuring the scale of food waste—because having that data is a crucial step toward solving these challenges.

Right now, we’re in a place where folks who are engaged in the food system probably know that both in the United States and internationally, about one-third of food goes uneaten. And if food waste were a country, it would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, just behind China and the United States.

I think ReFED Executive Director Dana Gunders is right about a lot of things, of course, but I think she’s especially spot-on when she says that we’ve built up a status quo in the food system where discussions about food waste must be a “standard part of any sustainable food conversation.”

At this point, all our discussions about food waste have to include a focus on empowering people to take action—and arming them with the resources to do so! 

There are more grassroots organizations, startups, and innovators focused on creative food waste solutions than ever before. There are truly no more excuses to ignore food waste!

Food rescue organizations, such as Food Recovery Network on college campuses across the U.S. or Oz Harvest in Australia, are recovering surplus food and getting it to those in need. Interested? Here are 20 inspiring organizations doing this work worldwide.

Rather than wasting surplus vegetables from farms or fresh cut remnants, Matriark transforms them into healthy, low-sodium vegetable products like pasta sauce and vegetable broth. Interested? Here are 12 companies turning would-be food waste into useful upcycled products.

If you find you’re constantly wasting the same things—coffee grounds, herb stems, a salad mix you forgot about—you can check out the book “You Can Cook This! Turn the 30 Most Commonly Wasted Foods into 135 Delicious Plant-Based Meals.” Interested? Here are 13 cookbooks helping us take action starting with our next meal.

Apps in countries around the world help connect us with food waste solutions, too: In France, Magic Fridge allows you to search and share recipes based on what ingredients you have on hand, and in India, Seva Kitchen crowd-sources food distribution by connecting people in real time. Interested? Here are 12 apps turning your phone into a food-waste-fighting powerhouse.

For consumers like you and me, Mill is a company that develops food recyclers for our homes that compost food scraps. For producers, ColdHubs creates walk-in, 24/7 solar-powered cold stations to extend food shelf life and cut post-harvest losses.

When we call our elected officials and encourage them to act on food waste, we can show them the Global Food Donation Policy Atlas, which analyzes policy recommendations in countries around the world to reduce food waste and tackle hunger. When we remind leaders in the private sector that reducing food waste is profitable, we can back up our statements with ReFED’s Insights Engine, which offers deep dives into 40+ food waste reduction solutions and the impact they can have.

It’s not enough anymore just to build awareness about food waste without also giving people the tools they need to fight it. Fighting food waste is food system action. Fighting food waste is climate action. Fighting food waste builds a more nourished, just, equitable world!

If you’re on the East Coast, I hope you’ll join us next week for Stop Food Waste Day, a.k.a. The Food Waste Warrior Awards! On April 1 in New York City, in collaboration with Compass Group, NYU Steinhardt, and Mill, we’ll convene food systems experts, local food-waste warriors, Broadway performers, youth spoken word poets, surprise celebrity guests, and more, all with a focus on celebrating the ways we can all take action.

Speakers include (in alphabetical order): Jennifer Berg, NYU Steinhardt; Chris Ivens-Brown, Compass Group; Natasha Bernstein Bunzl, NYU Steinhardt; Andrew Fisher Jr., 10 Year-Old Youth Poet; Harrison Herz, NYU Steinhardt; Tony Hillery, Harlem Grown; Sam Kass, Investor, Chef, Policy Advisor; Amy Keister, Compass Group; Robert Lee, Rescuing Leftover Cuisine; Priyanka Naik, Celebrity Chef and Cookbook Author; Jennifer Noble, Broadway Actor; Prahlada Rastogi, 10 Year-Old Youth Poet; Merrill Schaefer, 13 Year-Old Youth Poet; Harry Tannenbaum, Mill; and more to be announced soon!

Stop Food Waste Day, an international movement, is the largest single day of action in the fight against global food waste! If you’re interested in joining us for this event, please email Kenzie at kenzie@foodtank.com.

What are you doing in your own households and communities to make food waste-reduction an integral part of your daily life? Share your favorite tips, tricks, and resources with me at danielle@foodtank.com—I’d love to be able to highlight them for other Food Tankers around the world!

(Danielle Nierenberg is the President of Food Tank and can be reached at danielle@foodtank.com)