Industry Group Joins USDA Food Waste Challenge

The Food Waste Reduction Alliance (FWRA), a group comprised of leading food retail, food manufacturing and foodservice companies, has joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) new Food Waste Challenge as a founding partner.

 

The announcement came today as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Environmental Protection Agency Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe unveiled the Food Waste Challenge.

 

“This is a natural extension of the Food Waste Reduction Alliance (FWRA)’s mission, which is to reduce the volume of food waste sent to landfill by addressing the root causes of waste within our operations, and securing pathways to donate safe, nutritious food or recycle unavoidable food waste,“ the FWRA said in a statement.

 

“Recognizing our collective opportunity to lead on the issue of food waste reduction, the Grocery Manufacturers Association, Food Marketing Institute and the National Restaurant Association announced a cross-industry initiative to address the issue in 2011, now called the Food Waste Reduction Alliance," the statement noted. "Today, the FWRA includes more than 30 manufacturing, retailing and foodservice companies, along with expert partners from the anti-hunger community and waste management sector.“

 

FWRA added that by participating in the USDA Food Waste Challenge, the group can better communicate the industry’s efforts to outside constituencies. As an added commitment, FWRA will look to provide new platforms to educate and engage the food industry on food waste opportunities, challenges and best practices.

 

One example of how the FWRA will achieve this end is by producing a best practices guide and toolkit this fall, which will help individual companies accelerate efforts to reduce food waste. The toolkit will contain examples of efforts already underway, guidelines and checklists.