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Creates a permanent USDA Office of Food Loss and Waste and a set of regional coordinators, grants, reporting requirements, and a national education campaign to help cut U.S. food loss and food waste 50% from 2016 levels by 2030. The bill defines key terms (including a definition for “upcycled” food), funds measurement, research, technical assistance, and public–private partnerships, and requires stronger interagency coordination and federal contractor reporting on food donation and waste-reduction activities.
This bill centralizes federal efforts, funding, and data-driven programs to reduce food loss and get more wholesome surplus to people—helping low-income households, farmers, and recovery organizations—but relies on modest funding, local matching, and new administrative requirements that could strain budgets, exclude under-resourced applicants, and limit near‑term impact.
Low-income individuals and families receive more wholesome recovered food because the bill clarifies recovery definitions, funds pickup/processing/delivery improvements, and promotes diversion of surplus to donation.
Establishes a centralized USDA Office, a national target to cut food loss and waste 50% by 2030, and requires GHG quantification and public reporting, improving federal coordination and transparency on food-waste reduction.
Provides federal grants and pilot funding to build food-recovery infrastructure, hire staff, and expand operations—helping food recovery organizations, states, tribes, and local governments deliver recovered food faster.
Taxpayers face new federal spending across multiple programs and offices (several annual authorizations and operating costs), increasing the federal budget footprint for food‑waste efforts.
Grant matching requirements (10% non‑federal for some grants and up to 50% for partnerships) will strain state, local, and tribal budgets and may bar under-resourced jurisdictions from participating.
Rigorous data, evaluation, and reporting demands (comparison communities, economic estimates, public reporting) plus administrative retention of funds could exclude nonprofits and smaller applicants that lack research or administrative capacity.
Introduced April 10, 2025 by Chellie Pingree · Last progress April 10, 2025