Waste Not, Want Not: Donating Food in America
According to Jonathan Bloom at wastedfood.com, Americans waste more than 40% of the food we grow for consumption. Adding it up, this can cost us over $100 billion annually. Think about it. Do you ever wonder where that extra bread goes to at the restaurant? How often do you end up with brown mush in a bag that used to hold some spinach? Jonathan Bloom has made it his life’s goal to get people thinking about their personal food waste.  And groups like America’s Second Harvest, Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, and Food Rescue collect food from restaurants, corporate events, and grocery stores, donating what would have been wasted to shelters and soup kitchens.
Thanks to the Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, these businesses are able to donate food to nonprofits with minimal liability. Â Signed into law by President Clinton in 1996, it allows litigation against donators only in cases of gross negligence. Â According to the letter of the law itself, neither individuals nor organizations will be held accountable for damages from “apparently wholesome” or “apparently fit” foods (link). Â It makes sense–if you needed a scientific laboratory in order to identify all contaminated goods, it would be a financial burden for donors and a significant barrier to making donations. Â The Emerson Good Samaritan Act makes sure that good will does not entail great cost.
California State Senator Jenny Oropeza is picking up where Senator Emerson left off by (re)introducing a state bill that will make it even easier for customers of catered events to donate leftovers. Â With the bill, customers will be given the decision to have the caterer donate excess food to a food bank or take it home themselves. Â Last year, caterers and restaurant associations opposed the law because of unclear liability safeguards. Â This time, Oropeza is working with industry representatives to form the language of the bill.
“The food donor is always worried about liability,” [Robert Brooks, a Santa Monica resident and the proprietor of Tru Grub Catering in Venice], pointed out. “If restaurants and caterers were assured that they would not be liable for any food that they wanted to donate and that there was explicit language that spelled that out, I think they would be more likely to support the bill.”
In the meantime, Oropeza encourages her constituents to do what she does — purchase extra canned goods at the grocery store and donate them to a food bank or soup kitchen.
“For those of us who can afford to do it, it would really make all the difference in the world to a needy family,” the senator said, “especially during the holiday season, with so many families finding themselves in very difficult financial circumstances”
January 1, 2009
Tags: food, hunger, waste Posted in: Politics, Uncategorized
5 Responses
You should check out the “Replating Movement” at http://www.replate.com , a sort of strange way to deal with the leftover food problem. I think it’s condescending and don’t really like it, but it brings up some interesting issues about food waste.
Hm, I’d be interested in learning why you think the program (can we call it that?) is condescending. If it picked up, that would make a lot of food activists happy.
However, I’d be worried about food safety in warmer climates/times of the year. People in need of food may be very desperate and not care and/or not educated enough to discern signs of food spoilage.
Would you be willing to leave your excesss food atop a garbage can? Why/why not?
I guess “condescending” isn’t really the right word, but my problem is that this idea seems predicated on the concept that because some homeless people eat out of the garbage, we should make it more convenient to eat our garbage. While this is logical and pragmatic, I just don’t feel that we ought to support or condone other people eating our trash. Why can’t we just eat our leftovers and give our excess groceries to food shelters? This seems like more equitable treatment of the homeless.
I’d also worry about animals getting in to the garbage in addition to the food spoilage issues you mentioned.
It’s an interesting issue, I really like your blog!
Hmmm I like the ideas presented in the post for dealing with excess food. Because we are talking about massive quantities from corporate events and such, it makes sense to give it to a group that will take it to a shelter. Because of that, I don’t think replate is a great idea because of, what I believe to be, a minimal impact on the problem. In that instance, you are talking about some dude walking back from a restaurant wanting to feel good about themselves for not “wasting” food. By putting it on top of a trash bin, they are still effectively making it garbage. As Beth said, it would be better for them to take it to a shelter, but that’s too inconvenient for most, which is why I’d lean towards the proposed legislation from above. Sure, food would still be wasted, but we would be tackling a huge portion of the problem.
Beth & Alex,
I agree with the both of you when you say that replating is, if I can paraphrase, putting a band-aid on the wasted food problem. Placing your leftovers on top of a garbage can is something you can do on the fly to make yourself feel better, but won’t have any long-lasting effect. And, with animals and spoilage issues, it is uncertain that the food will make it into needy hands. Plus, unless *everyone* was doing it, replating would be a very inconsistent source of food.
So, Beth, I like your idea—make sure you eat your own leftovers in order to keep waste to a minimum, and donate groceries to shelters. It may take some more effort/time, but the food source would be consistent and kept in good shape. Plus, we wouldn’t be demeaning? the homeless and the hungry by saying , “Here, take our leftovers/trash”.
I think the moral is: Eat what you have, and donate (to reputable places) what you can.
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