EPA Region 7 Recognizes Iowa Waste Reduction Center, Eat Greater Des Moines in EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge

Organizations battle food insecurity through Sustainable Food Management

January 27, 2022

Contact Information

David W. Bryan, APR ([email protected])

913-551-7433

LENEXA, KAN. (JAN. 27, 2022) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 recognizes the Iowa Waste Reduction Center (IWRC) in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and Eat Greater Des Moines (EGDM) for notable achievements and innovations in EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge in 2020 and 2021 for food rescue and promoting EPA’s Sustainable Management of Food principles.

“The EPA Food Recovery Challenge Award winners demonstrate how preventing food waste and diverting excess wholesome food away from landfills and to people is important for the environment and for communities,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Their accomplishments serve as excellent examples to other companies, governments, organizations and communities, particularly because food is the single largest category of waste. We have an obligation to follow the lead of our award winners, not only for the sake of 35 million food-insecure Americans, but also to prevent emissions that contribute to climate change.”

Through the Food Recovery Challenge (FRC), EPA has worked with organizations and businesses for the past decade to set data-driven goals, implement targeted strategies to reduce wasted food in their operations, and report results to compete for recognition.

“Community-based organizations and businesses are the lifeblood of our food recovery program,” said EPA Region 7 Administrator Meghan A. McCollister. “As we celebrate the IWRC and EGDM’s successes with these awards, we invite other businesses and organizations to step up and join us in this valuable community endeavor.”

The Iowa Waste Reduction Center’s(IWRC’s) Food Beverage and Organics Program at the University of Northern Iowa provides on-site assistance to prevent and reduce food loss and waste. Assistance includes training, educational campaigns, waste sorts, and implementing strategies from all levels of EPA’s Food Recovery Hierarchy. The IWRC has provided training for 35 compost operators and conducted 14 educational and technical food waste presentations, including six breweries.

“Our efforts to solve the food waste conundrum have always been holistic in that we use every strategy from EPA’s Food Recovery Hierarchy to meet the unique needs of each client," said IWRC Food Waste Program Manager Jenny Trent.

The IWRC was invited to the Winning on Reducing Food Waste event in Washington, D.C., where the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and EPA came together to improve interagency coordination to reduce food waste. At this event, the IWRC promised to continue efforts that divert food waste from the landfill through sustainable methods.

A newcomer to the FRC program, Eat Greater Des Moines’(EGDM’s) work in 2020 focused on a few key programs. As part of their Food Rescue Transportation Program, EGDM hired 10 new delivery drivers at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of whom had been furloughed or laid off. Three days a week, drivers picked up food from 35 different Kum & Go stores and delivered it to community partners. In 2020, EGDM rescued over 160 tons of food from Kum & Go stores, the equivalent of 208,000 meals diverted from the landfill.

“There is a real misunderstanding regarding food insecurity in the United States. A lot of the time, the message is focused on food scarcity when that is not the situation. We have an abundance of food; it is just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said EGDM Executive Director Aubrey Alvarez. “This is why Eat Greater Des Moines’ mission is to create innovative, forward-thinking solutions that prove what’s possible in the food system. By empowering people and organizations to share food and support their neighbors in new ways, we help alleviate hunger, address climate change, improve our health, and support local businesses.”

EGDM also started the Operation Fresh Produce Drop that helped move excess bulk products from wholesale distributors, while supporting local organizations. As the initiative evolved, EGDM and over 100 volunteers distributed over 3,500 boxes of produce and dairy a week through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm to Families food box program, a total of over 650 tons of fresh food. The organization supplemented the program by gleaning work where volunteers went directly to the field and harvested over 5,000 pounds of fresh produce for community families.

During 2019 and 2020, FRC national awardees implemented innovative approaches and engaged in practical, cost-effective actions and best practices to prevent and reduce wasted food. Many FRC national awardees provided much-needed food during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly 600 businesses, governments and organizations actively participated in EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge in 2020-2021. Since the launch of the program in 2011, FRC partners prevented or diverted over 5.5 million tons of wasted food from entering landfills or incinerators. In the most recent reporting cycle, FRC partners prevented or diverted about 1.2 million tons of food from entering landfills or incinerators, saving partners up to $61.5 million in avoided landfill tipping fees.

Background

Each year in the United States, 73 to 152 million metric tons of food is lost or wasted during all stages of the food supply chain (from primary production to consumption), according to the EPA’s November 2021 report, From Farm to Kitchen: The Environmental Impacts of U.S. Food Waste. Food waste adversely impacts the economy, communities, and the environment by wasting the resources used to grow and transport it. Preventing food waste and keeping food and other organics out of landfills mitigates climate change, as an estimated 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from wasted food. At the same time, uneaten food contains enough calories to feed over 150 million people each year, far more than the 35 million estimated food-insecure Americans.

Best practices used by FRC awardees to reduce wasted food in their operations, in addition to actions taken by individuals and communities, keep wasted food from landfills. Their actions also bring the United States closer to meeting the re-aligned national goal with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal Target 12.3 to cut food loss and waste in half by 2030.

EPA Region 7 Recognizes Iowa Waste Reduction Center, Eat Greater Des Moines in EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge

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