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Nearly 14 Million Pounds of Surplus Food Donated During Second Year of New Food Recovery Regulations

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIF. — Santa Clara County food businesses and institutions donated nearly 14 million pounds of surplus food in 2023, the second year under a new state law aimed at increasing food access and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This massive effort was undertaken by a network of more than 65 food recovery organizations, who collected food from local businesses and distributed it to people in need, with help from community groups, faith-based organizations, senior-living and affordable-housing sites, and others. 

The amount of food donated in 2023 under the law, SB 1383, increased 20% from the previous year, as businesses expanded their programs to more fully comply with the law. Recovered food came from food service providers, wholesalers, distributors and large grocery stores, all of which have been required to comply with SB 1383 since 2022. The scope of the law expanded in 2024.

A person loads donated food into a refrigerator.
California Climate Action Corps fellows stock the community market at the San Jose Conservation Corps and Charter School with food recovered from local grocery stores. (Photo courtesy of the San Jose Conservation Corps)

“This program continues to be a win-win to address immediate food insecurity needs and build a long-term climate action plan on food waste,” said Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors Vice President Otto Lee. “We want our local successes to be a model for food-recovery programs nationwide. Expanding coverage to more restaurants, facilities, venues and events will help recover more meals for residents in need and help these locations better manage their productions.”

As of Jan. 1, 2024, the law widened to cover certain large restaurants, hotels, health care facilities, sports and concert venues, schools and events such as festivals. Food recovery organizations are gearing up to serve these new donors, which tend to produce more prepared food, such as hot meals. This effort requires new systems and locations to distribute the additional food, along with additional funding to support the expansion.

“As SB 1383 food recovery efforts expand to include larger facilities, I am grateful for the local businesses who are partnering with the strong countywide network of food recovery organizations to reduce food waste,” said Cayce Hill, the County’s food systems manager. “Together they demonstrate an impressive commitment to sustainability while redirecting edible food to people in need.”

The Santa Clara County Food Recovery Program is managed by the Food Recovery Initiative of Joint Venture Silicon Valley on behalf of the County of Santa Clara and all 15 cities in the county. It monitors compliance and provides technical assistance and education for regulated businesses and institutions in those cities and unincorporated Santa Clara County. The Food Recovery Program has contacted businesses and institutions required to comply with the law regarding the new requirements.

“While reducing food insecurity in Santa Clara County will require addressing the root causes of poverty and inequality, donations of surplus food can address the immediate needs of neighbors, all while reducing impacts on the climate,” said Robin Franz Martin, executive director of the Food Recovery Initiative.

Donating surplus food increases food access for the 29 percent of Santa Clara County residents who are at risk of food insecurity, according to an estimate from the Silicon Valley Institute for Regional Studies, the research arm of Joint Venture Silicon Valley. Last year’s donations provided the equivalent of more than 11.6 million meals to people in need.

Two people load packages of food into a truck.
A team with nonprofit Martha's Kitchen delivers groceries, meals and recovered food to a partner agency. (Photo courtesy of the Food Recovery Initiative)

Decreasing the amount of edible food that is thrown into landfills, where it generates the powerful greenhouse gas methane, also helps the climate. Last year, the collective recovery efforts of businesses and food recovery organizations prevented greenhouse gasses equivalent to more than 18,000 tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, the same impact as taking nearly 4,000 passenger cars off the road for a year.

Besides recovering surplus food, another way to combat food waste is by reducing the amount of excess food generated in the first place. The Food Recovery Program strongly encourages the use of prevention strategies such as providing surplus food to employees or discounting items that are close to expiration.

With funding from all cities in the county, the Food Recovery Program has created a series of videos highlighting strategies to prevent surplus food in different types of businesses and institutions. These videos have helped schools, restaurants, hotels, grocery stores, health facilities and venues that are regulated under the law by providing strategies and best practices from across the country as well as real-world examples from local businesses that have successfully implemented food-waste-prevention strategies. The webinar recordings are available on the Food Recovery Program’s YouTube channel.

ABOUT THE COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA 

The County of Santa Clara government serves a diverse, multicultural population of 1.9 million residents in Santa Clara County, Calif., making it more populous than 14 states in the United States. The County provides essential services to its residents, including public health protection, environmental stewardship, medical services through the County of Santa Clara Health System, child and adult protection services, homelessness prevention and solutions, roads, park services, libraries, emergency response to disasters, protection of minority communities and those under threat, access to a fair criminal justice system, and many other public benefits.

Visit the County of Santa Clara at: www.santaclaracounty.gov
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MEDIA CONTACT: 

Laurel Anderson/Aaron Kinney, Office of Communications and Public Affairs,(408) 299-5119, [email protected]
 
Robin Doran, Vice President, Communications, Joint Venture Silicon Valley, (408) 577-2259, [email protected]