CDFA joins the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in recognizing today as the fourth observance of the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste.
According to the FAO, 13 percent of the world’s food is lost in the supply chain and an additional 17 percent of food is wasted in households, food services and retail. This day is intended to make a call to action for public and private entities to reduce food loss and waste, which can play a key role by increasing the availability of food worldwide.
CDFA’s commitment to helping Californians reduce food loss and waste includes the CDFA Commercial Feed Regulatory Program, promoting human food byproduct diversion to create animal feed; the CDFA Rendering Program, promoting the process of breaking down animal byproducts for industrial uses; the CDFA Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation, promoting composting through the Alternative Manure Management Program and the Healthy Soils Program; and the CDFA Office of Farm to Fork, which is committed to increasing food access points.
Visit the FAO website for additional resources and publications about the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste.
Check out this video that shows how CDFA is involved in food recovery and how all Californians can join the effort:
(*Figures mentioned in this video may have changed since the video was created in 2020. Please reference the cited sources for accuracy.)