The Review Magazine Spring 2025

The Lab Report

Addressing Food Waste By Lydia Schaafsma

According to ReFED, a nonprofit focused on food waste reduction in the United States, 47 percent of consumer food was wasted in the United States in 2023, costing approximately $264 billion. This cost the average American almost $800! Your community likely has organizations, such as food banks and soup kitchens, that dedicate time to capturing food waste. Local governments can further this work by facilitating connections with residents, businesses, and institutions in the community—like schools, grocery stores, restaurants, and hospitals—to reduce food waste. One way that municipalities can engage in planning around food waste reduction to maximize their environmental, economic, and social benefits is to participate in the Michigan Green Communities (MGC) program. The MGC program, administered by the League, is a statewide network of local and state government staff and officials that collaborate and promote innovative sustainability solutions at the local, state, regional, national, and international levels. What Is the Best Way to Reduce Food Waste? The Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) have made reducing food waste one of its major priorities because of its ability to reduce climate emissions and redirect food to those who need it. The strategies for reducing food waste and recovering food for other uses are organized from most to least impactful in EGLE’s Sustainable Food Management hierarchy. The upside-down triangle outlines where food waste ends up, organized by the actions, from highest to lowest potential, for food waste reduction and recovery. “Waste less” is at the top of the triangle, representing the action with the greatest impact. Preventing food from being wasted in the first place saves money and resources and prevents greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from entering the atmosphere. Moving down the triangle, next is “feed people,” then “feed animals,” “create energy” (this one is harder to do at home!), “compost,” and lastly “landfill.” Local governments can intervene to help direct food waste to sections higher up in the triangle and to cut down on how much food enters landfills.

Engineering . Architecture . Land Surveying

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| Spring 2025