Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Thank you so much for the wonderful support for Littlefoot’s newsletter. Your feedback and article recommendations will ensure that this is a helpful resource for us all, so keep them coming!
I am overjoyed by several incredibly exciting things that have happened over the past few weeks in the wasted food space.
Hellmann’s debuted their first-ever Super Bowl commercial featuring Amy Schumer, bringing “taste, not waste” into the home. **Spoiler Alert** Amy is a “fairy Godmayo” that helps a hungry but uninspired man create “mayo-ical” dishes from disparate ingredients from his fridge. Never have we seen such a high-profile ad that goes beyond selling a food product and helps introduce small solutions to reduce at-home food waste. This commercial presents the official start of a robust multi-pronged strategy that the brand will be leading moving forward. Hellmann’s is one of my clients, and I look forward to sharing updates as the work unfolds.
ReFED, the only national nonprofit focused exclusively on ending food loss and waste across the food system, launched the Insights Engine. The Insights Engine is a powerful, dynamic data visualization tool that helps make targeted and informed decisions about the investment and action needed to reduce wasted food at scale. Additionally, ReFED’s Roadmap to 2030 outlines how we can get to the 50% reduction goal over the next decade. I had the privilege of being a founding team member of ReFED when the first Roadmap was developed five years ago. I am so proud of what the team has since created, and I encourage you to explore the Insights Engine to see how it can benefit you and your work.
On a personal note, Ray and I just closed on our first home so the Goulbourne clan has officially dropped roots here in Colorado, not far from Rocky Mountain National Park! We’ll be waiting for you whenever you’re ready to hit the trails with us.
Enjoy the newsletter,
Eva
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Announcements
Hellmann’s Takes on Food Waste in First-Ever Super Bowl Ad – AdWeek
We Waste 1/3 of All the Food Produced in the US – Here’s How to Fix it – Fast Company
Imperfect Foods Funding Round Brings Valuation to $700m – Bloomberg
In the News
How Composting Has Gone High-Tech – The Wall Street Journal
The Efficiency Curse: We built a ‘better’ food system. The cost: It couldn’t handle a pandemic. – The Washington Post
Behind Hellmann’s Game-Winning Super Bowl Food Waste Ad – Waste 360
ReFED Launches Insights Engine with Implications for Food Waste: An Interview with Dana Gunders -USDA
AppHarvest Starts Trading After Merger Valuing Company at $1B – Food Dive
F & F’s Upcycling Future – Perfumer & Flavor
This Tangy-Sweet Drink is Made From Avocado Pits – Healthyish
Growing Solutions Out of Food Waste: Spotlight on Matriark Foods – Musings Mag
Siggi’s Launch a “Palate Training Kit” to Help Consumers Cut Sugar Intake – The Spoon
These New McDonald’s Trays are Made from Food Waste – Fast Company
Cut Food Waste at Home by Sniffing and Tasting, Urges New Campaign – The Guardian
Starbucks, Unilever, Dary Famers of America on Their Food-Waste-to-Energy Alliance – Sustainable Brands
Study puts 2020 Produce Crop Loss from Pandemic up to $48 million – The Packer
UK Researchers Kickstart a New Project to Study and Fight At-Home Food Waste Behavior – The Spoon
Policy
Federal Level
Two Biden Priorities, Climate and Inequality, Meet on Black-Owned Farms – The New York Times
Our Food System is Broken–There’s a Blueprint to Fix It – The Hill
How America’s Food System Could Change Under Biden – The New York Times
State Level
We continue to see a steady influx of state-level policy measures to promote organics recycling, enhancing liability protections, and making it easier and more financially viable to donate surplus food.
Hawaii recently introduced several measures including one to study the feasibility of developing and implementing a food waste recycling and safe disposal program. Based on the study findings, we may see an organics ban in the future for Hawaii. The state also introduced a bill expanding liability protections for good-faith food donors, which includes the donation of expired food, and requires that education about food donation liability protections be made a part of the health inspection process to make food establishments aware of these provisions. Adding an education provision to this bill will guarantee that food establishments large and small can confidently donate the maximum amount of safe food for those in need.
Massachusetts introduced a date labeling bill aimed at standardizing date labels to reduce food waste. While it’s promising to have guidance for food manufacturers on quality and safety labels to reduce confusion, it was disappointing to see that the language recommended is not consistent with what was already introduced at the federal level in past years. If the language is not harmonized with existing recommendations, this bill will not yield its intended consequence and will only add to the complicated patchwork of inconsistent state-level rules around date labels. This highlights the critical importance of well-coordinated policy advocacy at both the state and federal level.
New York will now require large supermarkets to donate excess food. Maine and Rhode Island haven’t proposed state-wide organics bans but both introduced laws to promote recycling of organic waste. And New Jersey now requires an update to school food waste guidelines to include recommendations for how to better utilize food nearing best-by and expiration dates.
Listen & Act
Events
February 9th – 11th – GreenBiz 21: The Premier Annual Event for Sustainable Business Leaders
February 11th – FAO & The Nature Conservancy: How Can We Produce Food and Take Action for Climate and Nature?
February 25th – Climate Collaborative: Weeding Out Waste with ReFED’s New Food Waste Insights Engine
Podcasts
Emily Broad Leib on the Meaning of Those Pesky Date Labels – Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me (at 19 minutes)
3 Sustainable Alternatives to Single-Use Plastic, EPS, Foam, Paper Packaging – Soup-to-Nuts
The Role of Technology and New Tools to Tackle Food Waste and Hunger – S2G Ventures