Mayor's Food Waste Initiative-These Carrots Taste Just as Good
Did you know that Americans waste almost 40% of everything we eat? And that our food waste gets trucked to a landfill in Rutherford County, that within 2 years will be full? Serious concerns folks. And Nasvhille is aiming to do something about it. Enter the Mayor's Food Waste Initiative backed by the National Resources Defense Council. Nashville was chosen as a trial site to see how much we can reduce our food waste, hoping to be 0% waste by 2050. That may seem a long way off, but we need to start now. What can you do? If you're a chef or restaurant owner you can participate in the Mayor's Challenge here. If you're a consumer, you can recycle, compost and learn how to make the most out of food scraps and leftovers.
NRDC kicked off the initiative in the fall of 2015 with the local premiere of the award-winning documentary film, Just Eat It!. A February 24, 2016 stakeholder meeting, attended by close to 80 people, helped identify local opportunities and challenges for tackling food waste in Nashville head on.
Also underway are efforts to expand donation of surplus food to people in need though the Zero Percent app and ramped up food rescue efforts by the Nashville Food Project. The Zero Percent app greatly facilitates the ability of restaurants and other food service businesses to donate prepared foods to non-profit groups in a timely manner. In addition, a local nonprofit, Recap, is moving forward with the siting and development of an anaerobic digester that will be able to supplement the local composting infrastructure by processing food waste to capture energy and produce a valuable soil amendment. NRDC also will soon begin working with select businesses to prevent food waste and reduce food costs in foodservice environments through the innovative LeanPath software.
