Food Waste Reduction Grows

Farmers and community food bank advocates have decided to continue with an innovative new program in the state of California, Farm to Family. The program is designed to reduce, and ultimately eliminate farming based food waste. Based on the final accounting for last year’s participation in the program, it was determined that one hundred and twenty seven million pounds of produce was collected and redistributed to those in need of food assistance.

Based on the amount of food that was collected and distributed when the program launched eight years ago, there has been more than a ten percent increase. It is expected that over one hundred and forty million pounds of food will be collected throughout 2013.

The innovative program to assist those in need of food for themselves and their families, is administered by the California Association of Food Banks. By working with farms throughout the state, Farm to Family accepts imperfect, undersized, or unmarketable produce that might otherwise end up in regional landfills. In some instances, this can be as much as thirty percent of any given crop that can be transferred to participating food banks throughout the state.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: All businesses produce waste, but smart business owners take a look at what that waste is and look for ways to reduce their disposal fees. Sometimes this can be through enhanced recycling and other times it can be through charitable giving and community donations. When was the last time you looked through your dumpster to see if you’re throwing “green gold” away?