December 1, 2023 – Over the past few months, the Zero Food Waste Coalition (ZFWC) has been encouraging and assisting organizations in asking their local agencies to prioritize initiatives designed to combat food loss and waste through the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRGs).

The CPRGs were awarded by the US Environmental Protection Agency to states, local governments, tribes, and territories to develop and implement ambitious plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful air pollution. This two-phase program provides $250 million for noncompetitive planning grants to develop climate action plans, followed by $4.6 billion for competitive implementation grants to carry out those plans.

As local agencies prepared to compete for funding, there was a unique opportunity for organizations to submit comments that emphasized the importance of and requested increased funding for combating food loss and waste.

Given that the ZFWC’s food loss and waste reduction priorities are well-aligned with the goals of the CPRG program, the ZFWC released documents to support organizations advocating for the prioritization of food loss and waste including:

• CPRG Comment and Contact Information Tracker
  • This tracker identifies lead governmental agencies accepting comments, the agency’s contact information, and the development of their Priority Climate Action Plans, and is updated weekly.
• CPRG Comments Toolkit
  • This toolkit includes a sample email and talking points for submitting comments to local agencies leading the CPRG planning process in their communities.

The ZFWC has submitted comments to 43 state agencies and is supporting ZFWC members interested in engaging with CPRGs. If interested in joining the ZFWC’s efforts, please contact zfwcoalition@gmail.com. To learn more about CPRGs, visit the EPA website and explore Industrious Labs’ Action Guide here.

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Download Files

CPRG Comments Toolkit

CPRG Comment and Contact Information Tracker

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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.

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