FDA, USDA and EPA Propose National Strategy to Reduce U.S. Food Loss and Waste

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a national strategy that will drive progress toward the national goal to reduce U.S. food loss and waste by 50% by 2030. This action is a continuation of the three agencies' collaborative efforts to build a more sustainable future.

In the United States, food is the most common material found in landfills. More than one-third, nearly 100 million tons, of the municipal waste stream is organic waste, and food comprises sixty-six million tons of that waste. The project National Strategy to Reduce Food Loss and Waste and Recycle Organics identifies opportunities to reduce food loss and waste throughout the supply chain.

“The FDA supports the mission of reducing food loss and waste. While we look forward to continuing our partnership with USDA and EPA, we also want Americans to feel empowered and confident in their ability to play a role in that mission,” said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, MD. “We encourage the public to comment on practical ways everyone can play a role in reducing food waste.”

This Strategy is a result of the management of the Biden-Harris Administration. National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Healthpublished in conjunction with the historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health in September 2022.

The draft strategy presents four objectives:

• Prevent food loss when possible.
• Prevent food waste when possible.
• Increase the recycling rate of all organic waste.
• Support policies that incentivize and encourage the prevention of food loss and waste and the recycling of organic products.

For each goal, the draft strategy highlights actions that could be taken by the FDA, USDA, or EPA. Examples of specific FDA actions include:

• FDA and USDA will contribute date labeling and food safety advice to inform EPA's national consumer education campaign.
• FDA will continue to work with the food industry to advance the goals of the FDA's New Era of Smart Food Safety initiative to support and encourage supply chain stakeholders to adopt and leverage technology-enabled digital tracking technologies to eliminate contaminated foods from the market more quickly and accurately. , while reducing food loss and waste associated with contamination events.
• FDA will continue to encourage the uniform adoption of updated food donation practices in the Food codethat provide consistency and uniformity to public health officials.

This effort will also provide social and economic benefits, including the potential to:

• Increase access to food for Americans experiencing food insecurity and increase the recovery rate and donation of healthy foods, such as through the emergency food system.
• Create new jobs, industries and sectors of the economy.
• Increase supply chain resilience.
• Provide financial savings to households, which can also help address the needs of underserved communities.

Public comment will begin on December 5 and will remain open for 30 days. Share comments via regulations.govFile identification number EPA-HQ-OLEM-2022-0415.

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