Why Should a Food Rescue Be a Master Gardener Approved Project?
/by: Valerie Lafferty
A fair question. Here are some reasons for your consideration.
Context
First, as you are already likely aware, Michigan and the federal government set a goal to reduce food waste by 50 percent by 2030, to meet its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.
Second, there is the staggering environmental impact. According to Michigan’s environment department, Environment, Great Lakes & Energy (EGLE), food is the most disposed of material in Michigan. Up to 1.5 million tons of food waste reach Michigan landfills each year. The USDA estimates 30 to 40 percent of all food is landfilled. The methane that is emitted from food waste is reportedly 80 times more harmful than carbon dioxide due to its structure, which traps more heat in the atmosphere per molecule for 20 years after it is released. Food waste is significantly responsible for a large percentage of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Third, for commercial food suppliers and anyone that eats, there are economic reasons. Food not eaten means money wasted on planting, watering, fertilizing, harvesting, transporting, landfilling, etc. Juxtaposed to the evils of waste is the alarming food insecurity and hunger existing everywhere – and growing! In 2020, according to the Michigan Food Council, 1.15 million Michiganders were hungry or food insecure; that’s about 1 in 9 Michiganders! Of that, nearly 300,000 were children. Our nightly news reminds us of the starving people around the world, when the same issue exists in our own communities.
Fourth, our basic health. We see the topic of food as medicine more and more in the news. Obesity and diabetes are at epidemic levels. We know healthy soils produce more nutrient dense foods. We know composting contributes toward the health and resilient growth of all the plants that feed us and keep our environment healthy.
Fifth, if you are getting a bit panicky about climate change and our environment, doing something about food waste, capturing good food and rerouting it to those who need it or for composting, is something each of us can do by making slight changes in our habits and schedules. By coordinating these changes with others, we can have a significant impact both on our environment and our community.
Policy and Advocacy
Within this context, our state and national governments have been mobilizing! In 2020, Governor Whitmer formed a multi-disciplinary group to develop a Michigan Healthy Climate Plan to meet carbon neutrality by 2050. That plan was finalized in 2022. While food as a category was left out, agriculture, soil, and landfilling food was included in other goals. In 2023, a stakeholder group funded by Michigan’s EGLE, along with other state and national organizations, developed a Michigan Food System Waste Reduction Roadmap that emphasized food, farmers, and food rescue. Here are a couple of their relevant findings:
Michigan disposes of 1.5 to 2 million tons of food waste through its municipal and commercial waste stream each year, the single largest source … [to] the state’s landfills….. Food waste is responsible for an estimated 11.1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions and $11.9 billion in lost revenue in the state.
Reducing food loss is an economic opportunity for Michigan’s farms and food manufacturers. Approximately 1 billion dollars of economic value is lost each year to Michigan’s farms and food manufacturers as unharvested food, shrinkage, or other inefficiencies in the supply chain….
Michigan passed legislation in 2023 to specifically deal with organic waste management. This legislation mandates counties to develop a plan within 3 years to reduce waste by 50 percent. Counties can choose to plan independently or partner with adjoining counties. However, it appears the discussion centers on composting and not on reducing the source of food waste.
In June 2024, the White House announced the first ever Interagency National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste. These agencies include the EPA, USDA, and FDA and utilize the National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health (2022), which includes the following relevant (4 out of 5) “pillars”:
Improve food access and affordability of food
Integrate nutrition and health
Empower all consumers to make and have access to healthy food
Enhance nutrition and food security research
Nine states have enacted food waste bans for businesses, such as chain restaurants and supermarkets. Five of these states were recently studied by researchers, as they had the longest track record. According to that research published in Science: [Researchers]... found that such policies can succeed, but this has not been the norm. The states with bans showed almost no change in organic waste disposal into landfills compared with controls derived from states without bans. The exception to this was the state of Massachusetts. Simplicity of regulation, sufficient infrastructure, low cost of compliance, and/or strong enforcement may have contributed to Massachusetts’ success.
The Washington Post also reviewed this research in their September 2024 article. Although the four states (California, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont) produced no discernible effect in food waste reduction, Massachusetts reduced its waste by an average of 7.3 percent. This limited success was due entirely to composting, nothing about source reduction efforts. Further, composting had a positive effect because Massachusetts had some infrastructure already in place whereas the other states did not.
An Alternative Model
While intentions have been good, and despite widespread recognition of the issue, it appears these large-scale food waste reduction efforts have been largely unsuccessful. What gives? In my opinion, the focus on downstream effects, rather than addressing the issue at the source is to blame. Source reduction, very simply, is the best and preferred way to reduce waste! The ultimate goal is to develop a self-sustaining system, or a circular economy, where organic materials not used as food help nature regenerate.
As such, consider the model of Food Rescue US (FRUS). Services are provided free, 7-days a week via direct delivery by a volunteer using their own vehicle to a social service, non-profit agency that serves the food insecure and hungry as part of their mission. The organization provides the necessary infrastructure and serves as the “source reducer”. Furthermore, the organization will likely provide an important contribution to Michigan communities’ upcoming, organic waste management goals – to reduce food waste by 50 percent in 5 years.
Our site uses a direct delivery model, from donor to agency within a 10-to-20-minute drive throughout the Lansing area. The schedule is set up to accommodate the desired days/hours of the donors and of the social service agencies that serve the food insecure. Rescues are posted on the app and claimed by volunteers as their personal schedules allow. While the goal is to rescue perishable foods (produce, meat, dairy, baked items), individuals will transport any food or non-food items helpful to the receiving agencies as space in their vehicle allows. If a volunteer rescuer finds that the intended receiving agency cannot use all of the food in their delivery, they will go to a second or even a third agency until the items are placed. As such, the food is dispersed widely within the community.
The number of social service agencies we serve continues to grow. We are currently nearing 35 agencies, from community kitchens to food pantries to shelter facilities, and we’ve recently added Lansing Area Aids Network and the Karmanos Cancer Institute at McLaren Cancer Center for patients in treatment, because their food-insecure clients need a healthy diet.
We need more donors! There are some that worry about liability, but the Emerson Good Samaritan Act provides federal immunity for donors, volunteers, and receiving agencies that operate in good faith so there should not be a concern! This free service provides a cost savings to donors who may have been paying to transport organic waste and landfill fees. A newer development is that commercial food companies are increasingly held to corporate sustainability goals that might be tied to potential salary increases. So, there are additional reasons for donors to consider partnerships with us.
It is a very satisfying and flexible volunteer experience. Plus, volunteers have been astoundingly reliable. We are constantly getting feedback from receiving agencies about their positive experiences, and, likewise, get the same feedback from volunteers about both the receiving agencies and the donors. Many volunteers bring their husbands, kids, grandkids, and friends to help. It's social and positive. As such, I believe “enduring” will be another descriptor used for this model. For the month ending October 2023 (right after our inception), our app statistics reveal we had 10 cars/trucks full of food – 1,333 pounds or 94 meals with a computed value of $2,187. For the month ending November 2024, we had 133 scheduled rescues from donors, weighing 21,897 pounds or 18,218 meals, with a value of $42,042. Over Christmas 2024 we added 30 additional rescues on short notice, and all have been claimed. Our volunteers (almost 90 registered) still have never missed a rescue.
FRUS-Lansing MI continues to grow a network of people from a wide variety of backgrounds: social service agencies, volunteers, and commercial food donors and their staff. It appears to be having the unintended consequence of community building, in addition to all of the other benefits previously explained. Could this model present an option for other counties in Michigan, especially where there is a volunteer group ready to use the technology to organize? Is it a natural conduit for educational outreach on shared topics of interest like nutrition, home gardening, composting, and soils? It may be an overreach, but it seems that together we are advancing both a healthier physical environment and healthier personal one! Isn’t that what being a Master Gardener is all about?
I hope I have convinced you that a food rescue is a worthy Master Gardener project. Please know I welcome any thoughts or suggestions you may have to advance our goals. If interested in volunteering with us, my contact information is below.
Contact Information
Valerie Lafferty
Food Rescue US-Lansing Communities MI
Valerie@foodrescue.us
(517)349-6660
