225
fraction of that—some 38 million tons in 2014, according to the EPA—gets landfilled. In landfills, that waste produces methane when it decomposes anaerobically.
If not captured and burned as fuel, the methane is released into the atmosphere,
where it has a global warming potential over a 100-year timescale more than 20
times as powerful as that of carbon dioxide. Composting food waste in high-oxygen
conditions drastically reduces methane production. Processing it in specially
designed anaerobic facilities called digesters, on the other hand, allows for the
capture and potential beneficial reuse of that methane.
In addition to water and climate impacts, food waste has social justice impacts.
In 2015, the U.S. EPA initiated a Food Recovery Challenge (FRC) as part of its
Sustainable Materials Management Program. The FRC includes a “Food Loss and
Waste Reduction Goal” that aims to cut food waste to half of 2010 levels by 2030.
As part of the strategy, the EPA developed a Food Recovery Hierarchy, which
prioritizes tactics for food waste reduction in the following order:
• source reduction (not producing surplus food);
• redirecting unused food to feed hungry people;
• diverting food not used by people to feed animals;
• industrial uses of food waste;
• composting; and
• (as a last resort) landfilling.
The EPA’s food recovery hierarchy mirrors the prioritization seen in RCRA,
which applies to both hazardous and household wastes. RCRA Subtitle C
incentivizes producers of hazardous wastes to minimize waste creation by reducing
or substituting raw materials or changing manufacturing processes (source
reduction); followed by recycling or repurposing waste materials, followed by
disposal after appropriate treatment. Under the Food Recovery Challenge (FRC) the
concept of source reduction seen in RCRA becomes reducing over-consumption/
over-production of food; repurposing becomes distribution to other users or animals
and composting/digestion, and landfilling is a last resort.
Hamilton (2013) describes the current era in food policy beginning in the mid1990s as the “post-industrial food democracy period,” characterized by new, often
smaller, agricultural businesses as well as animal welfare and environmental sustainability movements, and the use of ballot initiatives to achieve food-related goals at
the state and local levels. But the lack of a national food strategy results in counterproductive initiatives and conflicting or disconnected laws and policies implemented
by state and federal agencies. A 2016 GAO report to the U.S. Senate pointed out such
inefficiencies, noting that in addition to federal agencies governing food, some 3000
non-federal agencies also do (Government Accountability Office 2016) .
9
One such inconsistency arises between the federal Farm Bill, authorized by
Congress every 5 years, and the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, published by the
Department of Health and Human Services. The Farm Bill prioritizes funding of
commodity crops such as corn, soy, and wheat and cotton over specialty crops
9 See Government Accountability Office (2016)
8 US Governance
fraction of that—some 38 million tons in 2014, according to the EPA—gets landfilled. In landfills, that waste produces methane when it decomposes anaerobically.
If not captured and burned as fuel, the methane is released into the atmosphere,
where it has a global warming potential over a 100-year timescale more than 20
times as powerful as that of carbon dioxide. Composting food waste in high-oxygen
conditions drastically reduces methane production. Processing it in specially
designed anaerobic facilities called digesters, on the other hand, allows for the
capture and potential beneficial reuse of that methane.
In addition to water and climate impacts, food waste has social justice impacts.
In 2015, the U.S. EPA initiated a Food Recovery Challenge (FRC) as part of its
Sustainable Materials Management Program. The FRC includes a “Food Loss and
Waste Reduction Goal” that aims to cut food waste to half of 2010 levels by 2030.
As part of the strategy, the EPA developed a Food Recovery Hierarchy, which
prioritizes tactics for food waste reduction in the following order:
• source reduction (not producing surplus food);
• redirecting unused food to feed hungry people;
• diverting food not used by people to feed animals;
• industrial uses of food waste;
• composting; and
• (as a last resort) landfilling.
The EPA’s food recovery hierarchy mirrors the prioritization seen in RCRA,
which applies to both hazardous and household wastes. RCRA Subtitle C
incentivizes producers of hazardous wastes to minimize waste creation by reducing
or substituting raw materials or changing manufacturing processes (source
reduction); followed by recycling or repurposing waste materials, followed by
disposal after appropriate treatment. Under the Food Recovery Challenge (FRC) the
concept of source reduction seen in RCRA becomes reducing over-consumption/
over-production of food; repurposing becomes distribution to other users or animals
and composting/digestion, and landfilling is a last resort.
Hamilton (2013) describes the current era in food policy beginning in the mid1990s as the “post-industrial food democracy period,” characterized by new, often
smaller, agricultural businesses as well as animal welfare and environmental sustainability movements, and the use of ballot initiatives to achieve food-related goals at
the state and local levels. But the lack of a national food strategy results in counterproductive initiatives and conflicting or disconnected laws and policies implemented
by state and federal agencies. A 2016 GAO report to the U.S. Senate pointed out such
inefficiencies, noting that in addition to federal agencies governing food, some 3000
non-federal agencies also do (Government Accountability Office 2016) .
9
One such inconsistency arises between the federal Farm Bill, authorized by
Congress every 5 years, and the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, published by the
Department of Health and Human Services. The Farm Bill prioritizes funding of
commodity crops such as corn, soy, and wheat and cotton over specialty crops
9 See Government Accountability Office (2016)
8 US Governance