Organizations in West Michigan have come together, thanks to a seed grant from the Michigan Local Food Council Network, to help the local food service industry reduce food waste.
The new Western Michigan Food Recovery Council will focus mainly on large grocery operations and the commercial and institutional food service operations in the area. Apparently, those groups account for about 48% of food waste sent to landfills in Michigan, according to MLive.com.
The council will provide education and technical resources, as well as networking and collaboration opportunities.
West Michigan throws away about 132,000 tons of food waste and Southwest Michigan ditches about 106,000 tons; the forum's executive director says that the state can "retain value through reuse options that feed the hungry or animals, through waste minimization, and the creation of marketable compost products and services."
Founding council members include representatives from SpartanNash, Meijer, Cocoa, Organicycle, Barfly Ventures, Bells Brewery, Gordon Food Service, Mercy Health, Spectrum Health, Creative Dining Services, Grand Rapids Public Schools, Kent County Department of Public Works, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Secchia Institute at Grand Rapids Community College, Lake Michigan College, and Feeding America West Michigan.
While the USDA estimates about 40% of food purchased in the US ends up in a landfill, a recent study indicated that food waste is being overestimated, in part because “measurements value food waste at retail price, rather than upstream prices."
The authors of the study, researchers from the University of Minnesota’s Department of Applied Economics, say that food waste estimates from the most commonly cited studies are contradictory at best and incomplete and inaccurate at worst. Part of the problem, according to the study, is that definitions of food waste differ greatly from study to study.
