ReFED Launches The COVID-19 Food Waste Solutions Fund

May 6, 2020

By Lynda Kiernan

Prior to COVID-19 becoming our new reality, food waste was already a serious issue. At a time when one in seven Americans is food insecure, 52 million tons of food ends in a landfill, not counting another 10 million tons of food that is left in fields discarded or unharvested each year. 

Food waste accounts for 18 percent of cropland, 19 percent of all fertilizer, and 21 percent of freshwater, as well as 21 percent by volume in landfills, according to ReFED, a multi-stakeholder, non-profit comprised of influential leading business, foundation, non-profit, and government leaders committed to reducing food waste. 

The financial burden generated by food waste, largely shouldered by consumers, is also astounding – costs totaling $218 billion, of which $144 billion fall squarely in homes are the result.

And COVID-19 is only compounding these challenges. The closure of restaurants, schools, stadiums, cruise ships, and parks have significantly cut demand. Although consumers are still eating, the demand chains have shifted – and as retail supermarket suppliers scramble to keep up, those supplying large-scale clients in the hospitality industry have lost their market. Meanwhile, these rapidly changing supply chains are leaving farmers to have to dump milk and plow under tens of million of pounds of perishable crops. 

The scale of the issue is larger than most are aware. Dairy Farmers of America has estimated that every day 3.7 million gallons of milk is being dumped, and just a single unnamed chicken processor is destroying three quarters of a million unhatched eggs per week, reports the New York Times

And for the farmers still trying to harvest crops with the intent of getting food to market, there remains the challenge of less labor due to COVID-19, compounded by the lack of migrant workers traveling across the border. 

But consumers at home are not off the hook either. Amid stay-at-home directives, home cooking has soared but food waste at the home level has increased too, Robert Reed, with San Francisco’s waste management company Recology, told Nat Geo

All told, the financial impact of this collective storm could be as high as $1.32 billion, according to a report issued by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition – and that’s only considering the costs generated between March – May of this year. 

But there is a response. ReFED announced the April 29 launch of the ReFED COVID-19 Food Waste Solutions Fund to rapidly deploy funding to organizations that can quickly scale solutions to reduce food waste and relieve hunger. 

Over the 30 days following the launch, ReFED anticipates granting a minimum of $1 million to a portfolio of both nonprofit and for-profit organizations that over the next 90 days will drive the prevention of 10 million pounds of food waste, or 8.3 million meals rescued. Looking beyond the short term, ReFED is aiming to raise up to $10 million to drive further significant impact over the ensuing months. 

Eligible applicants must be a social enterprise, benefit corporation, for-profit company, public-private partnership, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, or fiscally-sponsored project headquartered and operating in the U.S. They must have annual revenue or an operating budget of $500,000 or more, and must support the mission of The ReFED COVID-19 Flood Waste Solution Fund of reducing U.S. food waste by 250 tons over the coming 90 days.

Each selected awardee will be determined by ReFED from a pipeline of pre-vetted, high-impact organizations, as well as from an open call for COVID-19 food waste solutions, and will receive $50,000 on average in equity-free, non-recoverable grants.

To learn more about the potential impact of this fund, or to explore ways to donate to the fund, click here. 

 

– Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to the GAI News and Agtech Intel platforms. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.

 

 

 

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