Regulating date labels must also come with a widespread and culturally appropriate initiative that will educate consumers about the meanings of the new phrases and the importance of using your senses to confirm that food is still good to eat, instead of relying on the printed date. The only food item date that is federally regulated is infant formula, aimed at ensuring babies get adequate nutrition, which could decline in formula over time.Ĭongress must standardize food date labels into two discrete phrases, one which indicates quality (“best by”) and another for those few instances when there is an increased health and safety risk of food after the date on the label (“use by”). Many people in the US mistakenly believe “expiration” dates mean food should be prematurely tossed when, in fact, they are used by manufacturers to communicate food’s peak freshness – not an indication of food safety. Federal reform of food packaging date labels is a key solution to preventing food from becoming waste in our homes, grocery stores, and the emergency food system. Because date labels are not federally regulated, states have a hodgepodge of rules that further confuse consumers and complicate inter-state commerce.
#Project drawdown food waste how to
Because of their double- and triple-bottom line impacts, two of NRDC’s top priorities for addressing food waste are:Ĭonfusion over how to interpret the date printed on foods leads to a significant amount of consumer food waste – perhaps ten percent of all U.S.
Enable donation of surplus food through financial incentives and food safety guidance.Invest in food waste prevention and keep organic waste out of landfills and incinerators.NRDC is calling on the Biden administration and Congress to take ambitious action through five key priorities articulated in the US Food Waste Action Plan: For that reason, along with coalition partners, NRDC has released an action plan for the federal government to help reduce wasted food in the United States. Many businesses, government agencies, and others are already working to address food waste-but we need significant acceleration to reach the national goal to reduce food loss and waste by 50% by 2030. In order to drive climate action fast, we must fully implement the solutions available to us. Shifting to plant-rich diets, conservation and regenerative agriculture, improved cattle feed and manure management, and more judicious use of fertilizers and irrigation have additional climate and resource preserving benefits. The carbon pollution emissions from global food loss and waste are greater than all of the EU countries’ greenhouse gas emissions combined.Ĭomposting rather than landfilling food scraps and other organic waste could avoid another gigaton of carbon pollution emissions. Reducing global food waste could avoid 88.5-102.2 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by 2050. Preventing food waste is the highest impact solution among Project Drawdown’s assessment of an array of solutions to keep temperature rise to 2☌ by 2100. has had a national goal to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030 - mirroring the UN sustainable development goal 12.3. About one-third of the world’s food goes uneaten, and when food is wasted, we squander land, water, and energy, and release carbon pollution in the process.
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