On-site Assistance

In each of the four selected regions, the IWRC will host two meetings (one virtual in the spring and hopefully one on-location in the summer) with food waste stakeholders to help forge partnerships that broaden options to divert food waste while utilizing EPA’s Food Recovery Hierarchy.  Food waste stakeholders within each region will be invited to participate in the project including but not limited to the following:

• Haulers 
• Landfills/transfer stations 
• Retail food businesses
• Food pantries, food banks, soup kitchens 
• Colleges and universities
• Anaerobic digestion facilities
• Yard waste composting sites and commercial composting operations
• Municipal leaders and local/regional governments
• Food waste generators - K-12 schools, nursing homes, community colleges, restaurants, jails and etc. 

Additionally, training, when requested, will be provided to each region.  Regions that are interested in training will have the option to include the following:

• Implement food waste composting operations when requested - both best management practices to keep composting operations active and non-permitted regulatory aspects specific to each participating state’s policies
• Cafeterias interested in diverting edible food scraps regarding implementation of share tables, partnership building when donating, and liability protection
• Federal and participating state’s regulatory requirements when feeding animals (swine and ruminants) food scraps
• Tax incentives available to donors of food 

Action Planning

Each participating region will receive a customized action plan that offers recommended strategies to prevent and reduce food waste.  The action plan will include the following:

• Contact information for all regional food waste stakeholders that attended meetings
• All training guides and the fact sheet developed for the project
• Recommendations of strategies that work to prevent and reduce food waste
• Cost/benefit analyses of current practices in comparison to recommended strategies - financial and environmental aspects
• Search of the local area for donation opportunities, composting facilities, and anaerobic digesters
• GIS map of food waste stakeholders within each participating region
• Certificate of participation and window clings that promotes participation in the project

This material is based upon work supported under a grant by the Rural Utilities Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Rural Utilities Service.