Grubhub and other businesses are advocating for Congress to pass legislation that will make it easier for farmers and companies to donate surplus food and cut food waste.
“We’ve all heard of stories during the pandemic, and even before the pandemic, where it was cheaper for farmers to let crops rot than to than to transport them to an organization that could get them to food insecure individuals,” Amy Healy, Vice President of Government Affairs for Grubhub tells Food Tank.
Sponsored by Senators Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn), the Food Donation Improvement Act aims to strengthen protections for businesses that have excess food, but fear liability. It will also expand tax deductions to further incentivize food donations.
Alongside Grubhub, more than two dozen companies and nonprofits recently released an open letter pushing Congress to pass the Act. “We’re really excited about the Food Donation Improvement Act and the impact that we know it’ll make,” Healy says.
Healy believes that the Act is moving through Congress at an important time, as Feeding America reports that the pandemic upended progress to reduce food insecurity. “[We were] seeing lines of people around the country waiting for food…and that’s not okay. There are better ways to distribute food.”
Healy also believes that the private sector has an important role to play in supporting this Act and other public policies. “There are consequences to the decisions that federal legislators make on our business, on our employees, on our customers, and on our diners,” Healy says, “and we need to help shape those policies in a way that benefits our stakeholders.”
Listen to the full conversation with Amy Healy on “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” to hear more about ways that Grubhub is working to tackle food insecurity and waste and the changes that can strengthen local economies and communities.
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Photo courtesy of Joel Muniz, Unsplash
