While I have never considered myself to be wasteful, the pepper in the back of my fridge that turned from red to green and the leftover carry-out that I never ate suggest otherwise. Like other Americans, I could be doing more to reduce food waste.
More food ends up in landfills and incinerators than any other single material in the US. In 2011 alone, more than 36 million tons of food waste was generated nationally. The amount of food wasted stands in stark contrast to this country’s need to provide food assistance to the 50 million Americans who are food insecure.
In order to solve hunger, we have to address waste.
This year at the annual Northern Virginia Hunger Summit the Capital Area Food Bank will convene a panel of local food waste experts moderated by CAFB President and CEO Nancy Roman to discuss the ways that we as a community can curb food waste by redistributing usable food to those in need. We will be joined by Ben Simon, founder of the Food Recovery Network; Elise H. Golan, director for Sustainable Development at U.S. Dept. of Agriculture; Tom O’Donnell, from the Environmental Protection Agency; Brian Lipinski, of the World Resources Institute; and Meghan Stasz, Sr. Director, Sustainability for the Grocery Manufacturers Association.
The summit discussion will highlight various conservation techniques that food bank and other local organizations are currently using to lessen food waste including fresh produce gleaning, partner direct, prepared food recovery and food storage and preservation. We look forward to having our partners, donors, volunteers and other stakeholders join us to share ideas and to begin discussing future opportunities to decrease waste and increase food resources in the greater Washington D.C. community.
Admission to the summit is free, but registration is requested.