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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Food To Waste
  • Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2010 17:56:39 -0600


Food To Waste
Updated: 04-25-10 03:47 PM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/25/food-to-waste_n_551142.html

(The following story comes courtesy of Hunger In The Golden State a
collaboration between, the Annenberg School for Communications and California
Watch. For more stories and multimedia reports, click here.)

It's a sad paradox: while California's abundant fields of fruit and
vegetables fuel much of America, millions of tons of food rot in farm fields
or grocery store and restaurant dumpsters, much of which is edible and could
go a long way toward eliminating hunger in California.

by Tina Mather, Kim Daniels and Shannon Pence

Farmers, restaurants and supermarkets throw away millions of tons of edible
food each year at a time when a growing number of Californians struggle to
put food on the table.

State studies have found that more than six million tons of food products are
dumped annually, enough to fill the Staples Center in Los Angeles 35 times
over. Food is the largest single source of waste in California, making up
15.5 percent of the Golden State's waste stream, according to the California
Integrated Waste Management Board.

An examination by California Watch and the Annenberg School for Communication
and Journalism at USC found shortcomings along California's food distribution
chain that allow vast amounts of food to go to waste in landfills, despite
laws and tax incentives that encourage food donations. The problems persist
at every step.

Among the examination's findings:
Story continues below

• Millions of tons of fruit and vegetables rot in fields and orchards or are
plowed over each year. Some of these edible crops are left behind because
they are misshapen or discolored. Gleaning programs rescue only a small
portion of the field waste.

• Major retail grocery chains are more likely to throw away fruits,
vegetables and even entire hams and roasts than donate to distribution
centers. Although federal and state laws protect grocers from liability, many
stores expressed concerns that donated food could sicken recipients, even if
it has yet to reach its expiration date. While some major chains donate food,
others do not.

• Restaurants dump tens of thousands of tons of edible food every year. The
vast majority of the state's 90,000 restaurants and eateries do not
participate in food donation programs.
Waste is not just an issue for corporate chains and mom-and-pop eateries.
Discarded food represents a quarter of all waste tossed away by California
households.

A certain amount of waste is inevitable in all forms of business. It's built
into the economics of every production and manufacturing cycle- whether it is
clothes-making, homebuilding or newspaper printing. But the commodity of food
takes on added significance, experts say. Health officials, researchers,
economists, farmers and corporate leaders interviewed for this project say
that more efficient production and distribution of our food could help feed
millions of families.

"Waste is built into the food chain, at all levels," said Jonathan Bloom,
author of an upcoming book on food waste and of the blog Wasted Food. "On the
whole, the amount of food we waste is ridiculous, especially when you
consider the number of Americans who experience hunger every day."

Numerous volunteer organizations work to "re-harvest" California's vast
produce landscape and divert edible food that would be wasted from grocery
stores and restaurants into California's food banks and soup kitchens.
"It's a win-win situation," said Arlene Mercer, founder of Food Finders, a
Long Beach-based food recovery group that collects donations from
supermarkets and restaurants for food pantries. "They can receive a tax
writeoff, people will be fed, and it will stop food waste."

Many of California's farms, grocery store chains and restaurants donate
millions of pounds of food each year to help the needy. They are spurred by
good will, green initiatives and relentless demands to cut costs, including
food waste disposal.

"When it comes to feeding people, there's no competition," said Lilia
Rodriguez, a spokesperson for Albertsons, whose Fresh Rescue program makes
hard-to-get dairy and meat products available to food banks. "We feel like if
we don't do it, who will?"

But, Mercer and others say too many opportunities are missed to divert food
to the hungry before it is thrown away.

The problem starts in the fields.

Gleaning efforts capture small percentage of produce

California's carpet of farmland spans 25 million acres and produces about
half of the nation's fruits, nuts and vegetables, according to the California
Department of Food and Agriculture.

Although no one can estimate exactly how much food is left in the fields,
experts say it amounts to millions of tons of produce, much of it plowed
under after every harvest.

Though farmers pride themselves on efficiency, they also run businesses that
are subject to weather and market forces. If a farmer can't sell a crop for a
price that pays for the harvest or if some of it doesn't meet the retailers'
cosmetic requirements, the crop goes to waste. It doesn't matter if the
produce is edible.

"Waste is inevitable," said Mike O'Leary of Boskovich farms in Ventura
County. "We try to minimize it, but sometimes fields have to be disked,"
resulting in good foods being plowed under.

Some farms try to cut their waste by donating produce to food banks. This
year, Del Monte Foods Co. donated more than two million pounds of bananas and
cantaloupes to Ventura Food Share.

Millions more pounds are rescued from the plow blade by gleaning groups all
over the state that deliver "second harvest" crops to food banks for
distribution to local meal and pantry programs. The California Association of
Food Banks, which represents 45 food banks, has distributed more than 60
million pounds of food through its Farm to Family gleaning program.

But those efforts are only so successful. During one recent gleaning
operation, about 10 percent of an estimated 140,000 pounds of carrots left
above ground were rescued, according to Christy Porter, founder of
Coachella-based Hidden Harvest, which hires low-income farm workers to glean
locally grown food.

"We couldn't go fast enough to get the product before it spoiled," she said.

A 2004 study by anthropologist Timothy Jones estimated that up to 10 percent
of certain crops, such as cauliflower, never leave the field. He projected
that the overall figure for crop waste in the United States is closer to 20
percent.

Farmers dispute such figures, claiming much higher efficiency.

"We're not in the business of leaving commodities in the field," said Scott
Deardorff of Deardorff Family Farms in Ventura County. He estimated that food
left in the fields is closer to 5 percent. Many farmers account for a 5
percent loss as part of their business operations to cover food that is left
in the field, losses due to bad weather and other factors. But even 5 percent
of the produce could help feed thousands of California families.

Programs like Hidden Harvest have recovered millions of pounds of food
yearly. But obstacles prevent more gleaning efforts, including a need for
more volunteers and liability concerns from farmers worried that gleaners
might be injured in their fields.

Some grocers reluctant to donate food

Some of the nation's major grocery chains are reluctant to donate much of the
food leftover each night because of liability concerns.

John Wadginski, 24, saw this first hand.

While in college Wadginski worked at a Safeway store deli in Davis. The
amount of food he tossed into the trash every night still bothers him.

"I had to throw out 10-pound hams that weren't even touched," he said. "It
was easily 50 pounds of food a night."

Wadginski asked his supervisors if he could volunteer to take the food to a
local shelter.

State and federal laws have been in place for more than a decade to protect
businesses and individuals from criminal and civil liability should
recipients become ill from food donations. But grocery stories are still
worried.

"They told me no because if anything happened, they would be liable,"
Wadginski said.

The 1996 federal law protects all donations made in good faith. States have
similar statutes. The only exceptions are gross negligence or intentional
misconduct. A plaintiff would have to prove that a company or individual
intentionally tried to harm another person by making a donation of food they
knew to be unsafe.

"Many of them don't understand," said Mercer of Food Finders. "We try to
educate them that they are protected by the Good Samaritan laws and our
insurance and that neither have ever been challenged."

Mercer said she faces many initial roadblocks with some chains. They think
that it will take too much time or they fear their sales may somehow be
impacted by donating, even though donated food is dispersed only through food
banks and other nonprofit and community groups.

Most grocery chains participate in some sort of hunger relief program.
Safeway and Vons, for example, make donations to Feeding America, formerly
America's Second Harvest. The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and San Diego
Food Bank are major recipients of their donations. But chains often limit
donations to bakery items - the kind of foods hunger organizations need the
least. Other stores hesitate or refuse to donate perishable items, like
produce and meat.

"Many grocery stores decline to give food because they're either unaware of
the liability protection in place or they feign ignorance of the law because
they don't want to bother," said Bloom, author of the blog Wasted Food.
"Almost as often, stores know they'd win such a lawsuit, but are afraid of
the negative publicity they'd face if such a suit happened."

Safeway and Vons spokesperson Teena Massingill acknowledged concerns about
liability as a reason why meats and other spoilable items aren't donated.

"Safeway does not donate items that are not fit for consumption or could be
unfit for consumption when they reach the final recipient," Massingill said.
"Once the items are out of our control, we cannot guarantee that they will be
kept under the specified temperatures.

"While Good Samaritan laws may or may not protect a donor in this case, it is
best to error on the side of caution when dealing with the health and safety
of others. Many pantries do not have refrigeration units on site at all,
making it impossible to completely avoid spoilage."

Food recovery groups say they are trained in food-handling practices. They
want the food to get safely into the hands of the hungry as much as the
donors do. With needs so great, the food is unlikely to sit around for long.

Costco sends about 45 million pounds of food each year to compost, its own
records show. The chain has no company-wide food recovery program. Mercer of
Food Finders said that though she has approached the company, Costco has
chosen not to participate, instead offering her discounts on the food she
buys for the programs and occasional free turkeys.

"The food that is thrown into the dumpster isn't food that's suitable for
human consumption," said Karen Raines, director of corporate sustainability
for Costco, echoing a common refrain of grocery chains.

But that might not always be the case.

Mercer said that some foods can often stay good for 10 days past a "sell-by"
date. Raines isn't so sure.
"Those sell-by dates are there for a reason," she said.

"Costco is donating what it can legally donate," Raines added. "You'll find
it's the same at all the chains."

But other chains have taken a different view.

Albertsons was the first food chain to start a formal perishable food
recovery program. In the Fresh Rescue program, stores within the Albertsons
chain can partner with an organization in their community to receive food
from the supermarket. Each store has one or two employees trained and
designated to work with partner agencies.

"Stores have been doing it on their own for a few years now, but we wanted to
find a way to pull it all together," said Lilia Rodriguez, the public affairs
manager for Albertsons. "It's eggs, cheese, milk, fruits - and it's those
products that are really hard for food banks to get a hold of.
Non-perishables are usually what they get."

Rodriguez said that in addition to helping the community, the program
improves employee morale.

"The employee that helps knows they're doing their part in the community,"
she said. "They know the shelter or church around the corner it's going to."

Rodriguez said the chain feels protected by the federal and state Good
Samaritan laws but also urges its partner agencies to take precautions
transporting food.

"Most but not all [agencies] have refrigerated trucks. If they don't, we ask
them to cover the food with thermal blankets for the 15- or 20-minute drive
to the agency. We want to make sure it gets there safely."

Other food recovery programs that don't have refrigerated trucks say that
they can transport reasonable amounts of food short distances using thermal
blankets. Albertsons has also provided refrigerated trucks to some of their
partner organizations.

"When it comes to feeding people, there's no competition," Rodriguez said.
"Number one, it's the right thing to do. Number two, one of our top
initiatives as a company is the fight against hunger. We feel like, if we
don't do it, who will? It isn't about cost-impact. It's about doing what's
right. And ultimately, it helps our customers."

Other corporate chains are following suit.

After years of criticism for its food waste, Walmart started a partnership
with Feeding America in November 2008. According to a statement from the
company, the program is now in place in all Walmart stores and has led to the
donation of more than 90 million pounds of food since 2008. This month,
Walmart donated 35 refrigerated trucks to Feeding America. The company and
its foundation have given hundreds of millions of dollars to food programs
across the country.

"Walmart's food donation program takes food that is still safe for
consumption off Walmart shelves and delivers it to neighborhood food banks,"
the company said in a statement. "The food - which consists of nutritious
servings of produce, deli meat, beef, chicken, dairy and other groceries - is
then given to needy families, often in less than 24 hours."

At Ralphs, the chain launched a new program to distribute food that has
reached its "sell-by" date but remains edible. The program is now in place in
two-thirds of Ralphs stores. The company hopes to expand it all stores by
this spring.

"It's meat that's at its sell-by date - if we freeze it on that date, the
food bank is still very able to use it," said Ralphs spokesperson Kendra
Doyel. "It's also produce - slightly bruised fruit for example."

She said the company realized protein and produce were "very critical" for
the needs of food banks.

"We like people who like food, and we've had a long-standing commitment to
food waste," said Doyel. "This way we can reduce food waste and get more food
to them."

Doyel said that in implementing the program, the company put safeguards in
place to assure food got to food banks safely. The company now works with
food banks and food recovery groups in a certification process "to know they
can handle it," said Doyel. As part of the process, the company makes sure
its partner organizations have refrigerated trucks or thermal blankets.

"It was a matter of getting a program in place. We take it personally not
only as company but as individuals," Doyel said.

Restaurants say they have little waste

Restaurants have the same financial incentives to donate to food recovery
programs. But they too often choose not to.

"They think it is going to take too much time, too much effort and companies
aren't willing to invest more time now to do things even though there is a
financial upside to donating their surplus food," said Steve Dietz, director
of business for Food Donation Connection, which works nationally to recover
surplus food from restaurants.

Deitz says he frequently deals with "pushback" from reluctant restaurants,
which are skeptical that it is so easy to donate: "It's almost too simple;
too good to be true."

More than 90,000 eating and drinking establishments operate in California,
according to the California Restaurant Association. But fewer than 1,000
restaurants donated last year through Food Donation Connection, which is by
far the largest program that links food service donors with hunger relief
agencies. The 940 California restaurants that participated in 2009 included
nearly 400 Pizza Huts, more than 100 KFC locations and more than 100 Chipotle
Mexican Grill establishments.

A big part of the reason why so few restaurants participate is because most
are mom-and-pop operations or single-owner franchises, which are not eligible
for the additional tax deduction for food donations, said Steve Dietz of Food
Donation Connection. Only major corporations and large franchise owners,
called "C Corporations, are eligible for the deduction. A temporary allowance
for small businesses expired at the end of 2009. Food Donation Connection and
Feeding America are working with Congress to resurrect the tax deduction and
make it permanent for all businesses.

And while some restaurants are donating their surplus food through other
programs - possibly without additional tax deductions - some restaurants said
they are not donating regularly or at all for other reasons.

Representatives for Brinker International, which includes Chili's Grill &
Bar, On the Border Grill & Mexican Cantina, and Maggiano's Little Italy, said
the company doesn't have a policy in place for the donation of prepared food.
According to Food Donation Connection, Brinker's distribution center now
donates unused items and discontinued ingredients.

Representatives for Sizzler and Carl's Jr. said the companies don't donate
surplus food because strict production guidelines prevent either company from
generating waste.

Yet, a 2006 study by the California Integrated Waste Management Board showed
that food makes up 51.4 percent of waste disposed of by fast food restaurants
and 66.1 percent of waste disposed of by full-service restaurants.

While not all of that food is recoverable and edible, agencies that feed the
hungry said these numbers are devastating.

"The amount of food that is wasted is heart-breaking to me because it can be
harvested," said Louise Morris, the food coordinator at Shining Light
Ministries in Garden Grove. "People are hungry and it's just thrown away."

Although food waste continues to be a major issue, some restaurants are
getting on board to help combat the state's hunger problem. California
restaurants partnering with Food Donation Connection donated nearly 2.5
million pounds of food in 2009, said Dietz.

The Cheesecake Factory and Chipotle Mexican Grill each contribute to the
Shining Light Ministries' feeding program, which serves 125 to 150 meals a
week, on average. On one recent evening, 198 pounds of food from the
Cheesecake Factory and Chipotle helped feed 117 people.

"For us to get the food from the restaurants is very crucial," Morris said.
"With the economy the way it is, we're seeing our numbers increase."

Every Thursday night, 200 people, including Dale William Wallace, receive a
hearty meal at the North Orange Christian Church, courtesy of the Irvine Yard
House restaurant.

"I rely on places like this, certain days of the week, to eat," said Wallace,
who lost his job doing masonry in the tile industry more than a year ago.
"It's the only meal I'll have that day."

The weekly dinner is part of a program that started more than a year ago in
Yard House's Irvine kitchen.

"We're a restaurant, we feed people, and we have quite a bit of resources
that would otherwise go into the trash, or go elsewhere," said corporate
executive chef Carlito Jocson, who initiated the program. "I felt it would be
an easy thing to do to just throw into production. However, it was easy with
50, now it's kind of becoming a pretty big production, making enough food for
200 people."

Dietz of Food Donation Connection said tax incentives should also provide
reason to participate in food programs.

Congress passed a law in 1976 that encourages donations by allowing companies
to earn an enhanced tax deduction for donating selected surplus property,
including food, according to Food Donation Connection. Neither the California
Franchise Tax Board nor IRS said they track how often companies take
advantage of the tax breaks.

"In a nutshell, it reduces the cost of your loss by 59 percent as an average,
which is a huge, huge savings to a company that throws away a lot of
product," said Dietz.

But Dietz said some food establishments don't want to acknowledge that waste
is an issue.

"Most restaurants who do not admit their waste, I feel, are concerned that
shareholders will think they are not good operators if they have surplus
food," Dietz said.

Others may not participate because it requires extra work. In some cases,
it's easier to throw food away, food bank officials said.

"Is it easier to take all of your food at the end of the night and put it
into the refrigerator and store it until someone can come and pick it up, or
is it easier to just throw it away and send it to the landfill?" said Kelly
King of the Orange County Second Harvest Food Bank.

"We have 442 agencies, or partner agencies with us, and just imagine if every
restaurant in Orange County donated to us, what we could do with all those
agencies," King said.

Despite being optimistic that more restaurants are catching on, urgency is
needed, Dietz said.

"Agencies will go out of business and people will go hungry if we can't
supply the amount of food needed to feed the hungry people of the United
States. And the food is out there. We know it's out there. We have talked to
restaurants that have it."




  • [Livingontheland] Food To Waste, Tradingpost, 04/25/2010

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