2018 Conference

Individual Paper Presentation

Approximately one-third of food produced, or 1.3 billion tons, is wasted each year globally. Because resources are used to produce food that will never be consumed, wasted food increases the environmental impact of agricultural production such as greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution. These wasted resources are so significant that the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimated food waste to be the third largest emitter of carbon dioxide after China and the United States. In addition, wasted food could instead be redistributed to low income communities, thereby contributing to food security. Waste occurs at all stages of the supply chain, from farmers to consumers. There are a variety of means to reduce waste for each of these stages. These can include consumer education campaigns and laws requiring supermarkets to donate unsold food.

In the U.S., problems generated by food waste have been gaining recognition and in 2015 the government announced a commitment to reducing food waste by 50 percent by 2030. Despite this announcement, the main action lead by the U.S. Department of Agriculture has consisted of a voluntary campaign that introduces no new significant incentives or enforceable requirements. At the legislative level, a food waste bill introduced by Senator Blumenthal in 2016 never made it further than its initial introduction. In the meantime, however, cities and states from California to New York City have stepped up and made their own pledges to reduce food waste. In 2012, Washington D.C. also made food waste reduction pledges in its Sustainable DC plan, a plan aimed at making D.C. “the healthiest, greenest, and most livable city in the United States.” In particular, the District aims to reduce food waste through establishing curbside organic waste pick-up for composting. While composting may be commendable, the city currently lacks a plan to prevent waste from occuring in the first place through consumer education campaigns, for example. The Sustainable DC plan also includes a goal to improve food access in low-income neighborhoods. However, that goal is not integrated with the food waste reduction goal, a missed opportunity to find synergies between these policy areas. In January 2017, five Councilmembers introduced a bill aimed at allowing tax credits for businesses who donate their food, an initiative which could help bridge that gap. The bill remains under review.

My Research Paper will review the District’s current food waste reduction efforts and evaluate their adequacy. Based on this analysis, the paper will identify areas for further action that would take advantage of synergies between different policy areas by integrating food security with food waste reduction as discussed above. The paper intends for these recommendations to be replicable by other cities in the U.S. and abroad.