Zero Food Waste Coalition

??? NOW LIVE: ZFWC & Divert’s Updated 2025 Food Waste Legislative Tracker Last year, The Zero Food Waste Coalition launched a comprehensive Food Waste Legislative Tracker created in partnership with coalition member Divert, and founding coalition member Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic. This resource provides insight into in-progress and recently passed legislation across the U.S., in order to help stakeholders identify opportunities to push food waste reduction, diversion, and recycling laws across the country. ?? The Food Waste Legislative Tracker is now updated to include 2025 state food waste legislation. ??? The good news: There are already 5+ states with pending date label bills (many of which were inspired by California's success with AB660 last year). ?? “The Zero Food Waste Coalition is so fortunate to be able to continue this collaboration with Divert. As of this month, 90% of the Coalition’s State Working Group members anticipate that they will use this tool to stay abreast of state policy developments across the country—and 83% have already used it. This tool is crucial to further advancing advocacy efforts and subsequently reduce the amount of food that is wasted in our communities.”?? —Heather Latino, ZFWC Steering Committee member and Clinical Instructor at Harvard Law School’s Food Law and Policy Clinic The Coalition looks forward to seeing what progress its members and states collectively make on food waste legislation this year! Explore the updated tracker here ?? https://lnkd.in/d9qTSZT3 #FoodWastePolicy #FoodWastePrevention #SustainablePolicy #FoodSystems #PolicyTracker #StatePolicy?

Milestone Alert!??? ?? Replate’s?Partner Org Program (PoP)?has officially surpassed?$100K in payouts?to our fellow non-profit partners!????? That means?$100K reinvested?into the incredible non-profits and food rescue organizations (FROs) we collaborate with—ensuring they’re compensated for their vital work in food recovery. The PoP started with small pilot programs in 2021 with partners like?Denver Food Rescue in Colorado and?Food Connect here in California. Not only do we still work with these groups today, but we've expanded to?10+ partners across multiple states! By working directly with these organizations, we’re building a?more sustainable and equitable food distribution system—together.??? Huge thanks to our partners for making this possible! Here’s to even greater impact ahead.??? #foodrecovery #SB1383 #zerowaste #SF

The Zero Food Waste Coalition is pleased to endorse the newly reintroduced, bipartisan Reduce Food Loss and Waste Act (S. 835). Re-introduced last week by Senators Durbin (D-IL) and Grassley (R-IA), the bill would establish a “Food Loss and Waste Reduction Certification” and direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to: ?? Establish certification criteria for businesses to demonstrate the actions they take to reduce food loss and waste in this business practices; ?? Create a verification process for businesses to obtain the certification; and ?? Design a label for certified businesses to display on their products and signal to consumers their commitment to food loss and waste reduction. The Zero Food Waste Coalition thanks Senators Durbin and Grassley for their leadership on this topic—and look forward to working with their teams to advance this legislation.? Learn more about the legislation here ?? https://shorturl.at/tTxoV? #foodpolicy #foodwaste #foodwastelegislation??

NEW: Zero Food Waste Coalition Submits Comment in Response to USDA and FDA’s Joint Request for Information on Food Date Labels, Invites Federal Standardization The Coalition’s comment includes: ??? A thorough explanation of the inconsistencies within the current state-by-state patchwork of date labeling regulations that lead to excessive amounts of food waste at the retail and household levels ?? Multiple peer-reviewed and published research articles that demonstrate food date labels routinely and widely confuse consumers (and much more) ?? The wide range of benefits created across the food system that come from standardizing food date labels Read The Coalition's full comment here ?? https://shorturl.at/G9Ysq

?? FINAL REMINDER ?? Tell USDA and FDA to regulate food date labels to minimize food waste! Tomorrow, March 5, is the final day to submit an individual or organization comment on the USDA FSIS-FDA Request for Information on Date Labeling. The Zero Food Waste Coalition encourages you or your organization to?submit?a comment by March 5—and participate?in this important opportunity to?demonstrate?broad support for standardizing date labels.? ? Plus, the Coalition created a toolkit to make submissions even easier. Click here to see our template letters and submission instructions ?? https://shorturl.at/y2CQN Thank you to everyone who has already?submitted?a comment!

?? The USDA and the FDA recently released a joint Request for Information (RFI) to inform our national approach to date labeling on food. Check out the new @foodtank article to learn more about this development and access the Zero Food Waste Coalition's new toolkit! ?? https://lnkd.in/ddcEzj9J

?? New Survey Reveals Growing Confusion About Food Date Labels and Increased Food Waste ?? In January, researchers from Harvard Law School’s Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC), ReFED, and Johns Hopkins Dept. of Environmental Health and Engineering conducted a national survey on consumer perceptions of food date labels, building on a 2016 study. The results reveal significant consumer misunderstandings that impact food safety and contribute to unnecessary food waste: ?? Key Findings: More Food Waste: 43% of Americans now always or usually discard food near or past the label date (up from 37% in 2016). Additionally, 88% do so at least occasionally, up from 84% in 2016. Confusion About Regulations: 44% of consumers mistakenly believe that the federal government regulates all food date labels (up from 36% in 2016). In reality, only infant formula is federally regulated. Overconfidence vs. Understanding: While 87% of consumers think they understand date labels, only 53% actually interpret them correctly when tested. Inconsistent Usage: Consumers use date labels differently depending on the food item, leading to increased food safety risks and waste. These findings highlight the urgent need for standardized, clear date labeling to reduce food waste and improve consumer safety. ?? Let’s continue the conversation! What are your thoughts on these findings? How can we better educate consumers and improve labeling practices? #FoodWaste #DateLabeling #ConsumerEducation #Sustainability #FoodPolicy #FoodSafety #ZeroWaste #PublicHealth #FoodSecurity #ResearchInsights #FoodJustice #ReFED #HarvardLaw #JohnsHopkins Zero Food Waste Coalition

Thanks to Food Tank for covering the USDA and FDA's Request for Information (RFI) on Food Date Labeling! ?? Quick reminder: The Zero Food Waste Coalition is encouraging individuals and organizations to submit a comment to the RFI—and created a user-friendly toolkit to make it easier ?? https://shorturl.at/y2CQN Note: Comments are due by March 5th, 2025. https://lnkd.in/ejJkuxMq

In the U.S., more than 80% of consumers reported tossing out food simply because it's past the labeled date—although chances are it’s still perfectly safe to eat. This isn’t surprising considering there are nearly 50 different types of date labels being used across the food industry since there is no federal regulation (except for infant formula). Research shows that this confusion costs Americans around $30 billion a year in wasted food across the supply chain. The good news: Vivaria Ecologics has been working alongside the Zero Food Waste Coalition to fight for standardized date labels—and ensure more food actually gets eaten by consumers instead of tossed. Vivaria Ecologics recently submitted a comment to the USDA, FSIS, and FDA’s joint Request for Information, to share industry practices and barriers for standardization, research results on consumer perceptions, and any impact date labeling may have on food loss and waste. How you can get involved:? If you’re an organization, industry member, or individual who is passionate about food waste, you can also submit a comment letting the government know about your experience with food date labels. Your comment can provide crucial context that may inform future policy decisions, guidance, and consumer education campaigns on food date labels intended to help reduce food waste! Even a short comment is effective to show support for standardizing date labels. Note that the comment period is open until March 5, 2025. To help make this process easier, the Zero Food Waste Coalition created a user-friendly toolkit to submit comments, which you can access here.

I asked AI how much food is wasted in Florida and got this information. Over 6.4 million tons in 2022 up 13 % from 2016 was wasted. And then as I scrolled down and saw Food Rescue US named as the solution for reducing food waste! Food Rescue US ReFED Zero Food Waste Coalition National Supermarket Association (NSA) Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau Recycle Track Systems