The House and Senate successfully passed legislation that will curb food waste while reducing food insecurity. Known as the Food Donation Improvement Act, the Bill now heads to President Biden’s desk for his signature.
“Hunger is not inevitable. We live in a land of abundance,” says Representative Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) from the House floor. “There’s plenty of food for everyone.”
Businesses frequently dispose of safe, healthy food out of fear that they will be held liable should a donated product make someone ill. But the Food Donation Improvement Act will expand protections for manufacturers, retailers, farmers, and restaurants to encourage donations. It will also make it easier for businesses to donate food directly to those in need.
“This bill will eliminate legal roadblocks that discourage food donations by restaurants, retailers, and others,” says U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn).
The bipartisan Bill passed in the Senate by unanimous consent and the House passed it by voice vote.
“Promoting and enabling the donation of safe, surplus food is a highly effective and simple tool to curb food waste, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and address food insecurity,” Emily Broad Leib, Director for the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC) tells Food Tank.
In the United States, almost 34 million people lived in food insecure households in 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Yet around one third of surplus food ends up in landfills where it emits greenhouse gas emissions, the nonprofit ReFED reports. In 2019, just 3.5 percent of food was donated.
“We don’t have a shortage of food,” McGovern states. “We have a mismatch between abundance and need.”
The passing of the Bill follows the advocacy efforts of businesses and civil society organizations, who called on Congress to address this disparity. In 2021, a coalition of companies and nonprofits released an open letter calling on Congress to pass the Food Donation Improvement Act.
And this past summer, food waste advocates put on an educational event on Capitol Hill to help policymakers understand the Bill’s importance. The Healthy Living Coalition, WeightWatchers International, Grubhub, the FLPC, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Bread for the World were among the organizers behind the convening.
Niyeti Shah, Senior Manager of Social Impact for WeighWatchers calls the win “a monumental win for food policy.”
“We proved that Congress, companies, nonprofits, and citizens are ready for food to take center stage,” Shah tells Food Tank. “Thanks to the 73 companies, 58 bi-partisan Representatives, and 60,000+ citizens who made this happen—we know this is just the beginning.”
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Photo courtesy of Ismael Paramo, Unsplash
