Winning on Reducing Food Waste Federal Interagency Strategy for FY 2019-2020
Led by USDA, EPA and FDA, the U.S. federal government is seeking to increase coordination and collaboration, work with communities, organizations and businesses, along with our partners in state, tribal and local government, to reduce food loss and waste.
By taking action on the U.S. 2030 Food Loss and Waste Reduction goal (2030 FLW reduction goal), and through the related Winning on Reducing Food Waste Initiative and efforts, the United States can help feed the hungry, save money for families and businesses and protect the environment. Reducing food waste will help the United States address a number of environmental issues, including GHG emissions. By keeping wholesome and nutritious food in our communities and out of our landfills, we can help address the over 35 million Americans that live in food insecure households. By 2030, we hope to see 50 percent reductions in both baseline measurements: • For food waste in the United States, EPA's "Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: Facts and Figures" provides estimates of the amount of wasted food being generated from residences, commercial establishments (e.g. grocery stores and restaurants), and institutional sources (e.g. school cafeterias) and estimates of how it is being managed via various pathways. Using the available data, 2010 was selected as a baseline at 218.9 pounds of food waste per person sent to landfills and combustion with energy recovery. The 2030 FLW reduction goal aims to reduce food waste going to landfills and combustion with energy recovery by 50 percent to 109.4 pounds per person. • For food loss in the United States, USDA's Economic Research Service has estimated the amount of available food supply that went uneaten at the retail and consumer levels. In the baseline year of 2010, food loss was 31 percent of the food supply, equaling 133 billion pounds and an estimated value of $161.6 billion. The 2030 FLW reduction goal aims to cut food loss at the retail and consumer level in half, by approximately 66 billion pounds.
