In its ongoing effort to reduce food waste in Iowa, we are excited to announce a new project began on October 1 - the Iowa Rural Communities Food Waste Reduction Project.

Through a fourth consecutive United States Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Services grant, we will be working with four rural communities in Iowa to provide food waste reduction assistance on a community-level. 

“We’re incredibly excited to be working with and educating rural communities about food waste. This is a great time to implement this project here in Iowa because the issues associated with food waste are catching across the country and world and deserve attention,” says Jenny Trent, Environmental Specialist at the IWRC.

Whereas many past IWRC food waste reduction projects have focused on only industrial, commercial, institutional (ICI) sources, this project will focus on those ICI sources as well as residential food waste through helping communities incorporate the Environmental Protection Agency’s Food: Too Good to Waste Program. The IWRC is currently in the process of selecting the four rural communities. When selected, the IWRC will provide comprehensive, community-wide food waste reduction assistance and develop educational food waste tools for each individual community.

You can learn more on the Iowa Rural Communities Food Waste Reduction Project webpage and follow us on social media for updates as we announce the communities we'll be working with and showcase their achievements in food waste reduction.

This material is based upon work supported under a grant by the Rural Utilities Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Any opinions, finding, 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.

The University of Northern Iowa and the Iowa Waste Reduction Center are an equal opportunity provider and employer.