The summer is always a busy time for the Iowa Waste Reduction Center’s (IWRC) Food, Beverage & Organics program. This summer was no different. July and August in Iowa marks the height of the farmers market and community garden season so Program Manager, Jennifer Trent, and Environmental Specialist, Jason Clay loaded the car and set forth to visit three Iowa communities, Manchester, Iowa Falls, and Shenandoah to assist them with implementing both food donation and composting strategies as part of the USDA funded Community Gardens and Farmers Market Compost and Donation project. 

Five years ago this November, the idea for the Iowa Green Brewery Project (IGBC) had just begun developing. The Iowa Waste Reduction Center was looking to continue providing free environmental assistance to Iowa businesses, but on a more specific level. The craft beer industry was a natural fit. Resource intensive, rapidly expanding statewide, and industry interest in environmental stewardship, the IGBC started to gain traction.

On September 26, the Iowa Waste Reduction Center  (IWRC) was awarded a $76,300 Solid Waste Management Grant to fund the Community Gardens and Farmers Market Compost and Donation Project. 

The Iowa Waste Reduction Center’s Jennifer Trent is invited to participate in the development of the City of Des Moines' first Climate Action & Adaptation Plan to address greenhouse gas emissions and help the community become more resilient to the effects of climate change.  

IWRC Environmental Intern, Jordan Burrows, mapped rural Iowa food deserts with the goal of sharing findings with stakeholders who can assist food desert communities.

IACC mission: To promote the composting industry and the reduction, reuse, and recycling of the organic component of Iowa's waste stream through support of infrastructure development, quality control and ethical operations, operator training, legislative and regulatory advocacy, and general public education.

“PFAS” is a buzz word that you may have begun to hear in recent years, but what are these substances and chemicals all about? Are they actually harmful to humans and to the environment? PFAS, or Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances is a synthetic chemical that persistently remains in the environment and can be toxic to the human body. Unfortunately, PFAS is found widely in a number of products that many consumers use daily such as pizza boxes and other food packaging items, non-stick pots and pans, and stain and water repellent fabrics. The good news, however, is that the United States has stopped the manufacturing of these products. Unfortunately, they do continue to be imported into the country from other places.

The Iowa Waste Reduction Center is excited to announce the Regional Partnership for Food Waste Solutions, a USDA food waste grant program that we began work on in 2021. The goal of this project is to decrease the amount of food waste discarded in landfills through the facilitation of partnership building at a regional level. Building partnerships has the capacity to increase available opportunities that divert food waste from the landfill and also increases community engagement to address issues associated with food waste as well as available solutions.

We are excited to announce that Congressman David Young, who represents the 3rd District of Iowa, will be the opening keynote for the 2018 Midwest Food Recovery Summit.