Offers Solutions and How-To Advice for Manufacturers, Retailers and Restaurants
The Food Waste Reduction Alliance (FWRA) has developed The Best Practices and Emerging Solutions Toolkit, a resource that offers practical solutions and advice to help restaurants and other members of the foodservice industry reduce waste.
"The sad truth is that while food is going to waste, 37 million Americans struggle to put enough food on the table to feed their families. The safe, edible food that is diverted from the waste stream to food banks through model practices showcased in the toolkit make a positive social impact on communities across the country by providing sustenance to those in need," shared Karen Hanner, director of manufacturing product sourcing at Feeding America, and a key contributor to the toolkit.
The FWRA toolkit focuses on strategies foodservice operators, retailers and manufacturers can employ to keep food out of landfills, and to reduce food waste at the source. The model practices and emerging solutions were compiled from the more than 30 FWRA member companies that focus on reducing food waste within their operations. Specific topics discussed include:
- Tactics for overcoming obstacles to food donation such as liability and supply chain issues
- Emerging solutions and new technologies for recycling food waste, including energy production opportunities
- Strategic planning to avoid food waste generation
"FWRA members are committed to reducing food waste not just within their own organizations, but across the entire food sector. By sharing our collective experience, we hope to enable other companies to tackle food waste more efficiently and more effectively than when we started the process," said Brandon Tidwell, sustainability manager with Darden Restaurants and toolkit co-author. "The more companies that join the effort, the faster we can change the social acceptability of wasting food."
For a copy of the FWRA Best Practices and Emerging Solutions Toolkit, please visit the FWRA web site at
www.foodwastealliance.org.
