States recycle, donate food headed to landfills

Effort tackles climate change, fights hunger

When Sean Rafferty got his start in the grocery business, anything that wasn’t sold got tossed out.

But on a recent day, Rafferty, the store manager for Shoprite of Elmsford-greenburgh in New York, was preparing boxes of bread, donuts, fresh produce and dairy products to be picked up by a food bank. It’s part of a statewide program requiring larger businesses to donate edible food and, if they can, recycle remaining food scraps.

New York is among a growing number of states targeting food waste over concerns it is taking up diminishing landfill space and contributing to global warming as meat, vegetables and dairy release the greenhouse gas methane after being dumped in a landfill. Rescuing unwanted fruits and vegetables, eggs, cereals and other food also helps to feed hungry families.

Globally, about a third of food is wasted. In the United States, it’s even higher, at 40 percent, according to the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic. The U.S. spends about $218 billion each year growing and producing food that is wasted. About 63 tons goes to waste, including 52.4 tons that ends up in landfills and 10 tons never harvested from farms.

“What’s shocking to people often is not only how much we waste … but also the impact,” said Emily Broad Leib, a Harvard University law professor and director of the school’s Food Law and Policy Clinic. “Food waste causes about 8 percent to 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.”

Broad Leib says 20 percent of water in the U.S. is used to grow food “that we then just throw away, so we’re basically taking water and putting it directly into a landfill.”

But she and others also note there is growing awareness of the need to do something about food waste in the U.S.

In 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Agency announced a goal of 50 percent food waste reduction by 2030.

That has prompted a number of state-led initiatives, along with smaller, nonprofit efforts.

Ten states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation or executed policies to reduce, compost or donate waste. All 50 states have passed legislation shielding donors and recovery organizations from criminal and civil liability linked to donated food.

California and Vermont have launched programs converting residents’ food waste into compost or energy, while Connecticut requires businesses, including larger food wholesalers and supermarkets, to recycle food waste. Farmers in Maryland can get a tax credit of up to $5,000 per farm for food they donate.

Several states have joined New York in setting up systems allowing food to be donated. Rhode Island requires food vendors servicing education institutions to donate any unused food to food banks, while Massachusetts limits the amount of food that businesses can send to landfills, which Broad Leib said has increased food donations in the state by 22 percent over two years.

Seth Wenig The Associated Press Betsy Quiroa shops at a market-style food pantry on Nov. 15 at the Carver Center in Port Chester, N.Y. A number of states are working to keep food out of landfills.