Earlier this month, the White House finalized a National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics after holding a public comment period on a draft strategy released by USDA, FDA and EPA. The Zero Food Waste Coalition (ZFWC) applauds updates in the final strategy that are aligned with many of its recommendations, including the following:

• The USDA and EPA committed to testing food waste reduction, recovery, and composting practices at their headquarters and other federal buildings. This update is aligned with the Coalition’s suggestion for the White House to lead by example with food waste practices.
• The FDA and USDA committed to uplifting private efforts to standardize food date labels, an effort the Coalition has been calling for since 2021. Additionally, the Coalition was thrilled to learn that standardizing the date labeling system was included in 9,800 submitted comments.
• The USDA and EPA added commitments to close the food loss and waste data gap, such as publishing data on how perishable products flow through the supply chain and developing a calculator to estimate methane emissions savings from diverting food waste from landfill.
• The strategy includes new actions incorporating the Coalition’s suggestions around educating crop insurance agents about gleaning opportunities, publicizing and educating stakeholders about existing federal food safety protections for creating animal feed from food scraps, updating the WARM model, prioritizing the quality of recovered and donated food, and more.
• Lastly, the Coalition was thrilled to see the National Strategy expanding beyond the USDA, EPA, and FDA to include USAID.

The ZFWC thanks the White House for their openness to collaboration and for providing the opportunity to submit feedback. The Coalition is looking forward to supporting the implementation of this strategy to meet the U.S.’s goal of reducing food waste by 50% by 2030.

To read the Coalition’s full comment on the Draft National Strategy, click here.

To learn more about or join the Zero Food Waste Coalition, please email zfwcoalition@gmail.com.

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Comments on the Draft National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics

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The Zero Food Waste Coalition aims to inform and influence policy at the local, state, and federal levels, and share policy updates and opportunities with partners and stakeholders around the country to bring consumers, businesses, and government together to make food loss and waste history. The Coalition was launched by NRDC, WWF, ReFED, and FLPC in April 2023, formalizing a partnership that began in January 2020.

CONTACT:
Zero Food Waste Coalition, zfwcoalition@gmail.com