Food Loss & Recovery

Opportunities in Sonoma County

Sonoma County Food Recovery Coalition

Individual members: Phina Borgeson, Dena Allen, Elizabeth Esparza, Takenoko Farms

SCFRC VisionTo reduce food waste for greater community connectedness and resilience. We strive to reinvigorate the sharing ethic and strengthen community connections through:

• Educating and fostering learning• Reducing food loss• Increasing food recovery• Better nourishing our community

Source: Redwood Empire Food Bank

82,000 people in Sonoma County face the threat of hunger every month.

Source: Sonoma County Waste Management Agency

And yet over 45 tons of food are going into our waste stream…

45,500

11,800

10,800

5,600

5,600

Food

Remainder/Composite

Textiles

Leaves, Grass

Trimmings

Branches, Stumps

Ag Crop Residue

Manures

45,500 tons of food “waste”

2014 Waste Characterization StudyOverall Waste Composition

We need to rethink “Waste”….“Waste” = negative connotation & implies no value

In the natural system, there is no waste

EPA Food Recovery Funnel

Common Challenges in Food Recovery

• Infrastructure and capacity• Sector innovation & cross-sector collaboration• Inefficient distribution• Nutritional deficiencies• Business concerns (liability, consistency, costs)

Traditional food recovery limitations

Community connections: Food Distribution Directory

Food Distribution Directory

Commercial Institution Outreach

Developed an educational brochure for commercial institutions on food donations being distributed by County of Sonoma Environmental health & Safety personnel

Emergency Food Response Gathering February 2018

Gathering convened in February 2018 to assess emergency food response during the October 2017 fires.

Key recommendations: • County-wide coordinator

for emergency food response

• Strategic plan to identify & expand capacity in times of disaster

• Inventory existing emergency food response resources

Emergency Operations Center

Emergency FoodInformation

Officer

Area 1 Lead Area 2 Lead Area 3 Lead Area 4 Lead Area 5 Lead

County

Redwood Empire Food Bank Council on AgingCatholic CharitiesCore Service Organizations

Human Services Department (Economic Assistance Division)

UC Cooperative Extension

Grassroots Field-Response

E M E R G E N C Y F O O D R E S P O N S EO R G A N I Z AT I O N C H A R T

Department of Health Services (Environmental Health &

Safety)

Coordinators

SB-1383 Short-lived climate pollutants

New State of California organic waste diversion legislation

•Goal: reduce short-lived climate pollutants in landfills

•Major component of bill includes edible food recovery

SCFRC strategizing on infrastructure needed to support increased edible food recovery

Thank you the many dedicated members of the Sonoma County

Food System Alliance and the Sonoma County Food Recovery

Coalition.