Sponsors (4)
Introduced April 9, 2025 by Christopher A. Coons · Last progress April 9, 2025
The bill directs modest new federal funding, definitions, coordination, and grants to scale food recovery, measurement, and prevention — potentially reducing food insecurity and emissions — but it raises taxpayer costs, imposes matching and compliance burdens that may exclude smaller or resource‑limited actors, and relies on limited funding and some ambiguous standards that could limit nationwide impact.
Low‑income individuals and households will receive more rescued and donated food because the bill funds and expands food recovery, donation requirements, and distribution networks.
State, Tribal, and local governments (and their nonprofit partners) gain federal grants and flexible funding to build storage, processing, temperature‑controlled distribution, and local partnerships that increase capacity to preserve and distribute surplus food.
The bill creates standardized measurement, public reporting, and a national target (50% reduction in food‑loss‑and‑waste GHGs by 2030), improving transparency and making successful approaches easier to replicate.
Taxpayers will face increased federal spending from multiple authorizations (annual authorizations and multi‑year grants), raising budgetary costs.
Matching and cost‑share requirements (from modest to large shares) will strain local budgets and may exclude low‑resource jurisdictions and nonprofits from participating in grants.
New labeling, donation, and reporting requirements for 'upcycled' products, contractors, and other supply‑chain actors could raise compliance and administrative costs for producers, retailers, and contract providers.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Creates a USDA Office, regional coordinators, grant programs, interagency coordination, contractor reporting, and a national education campaign to cut food loss and waste and expand recovery.
Creates a new Office of Food Loss and Waste at USDA, establishes regional coordinators, and funds several grant programs and public education efforts to cut U.S. food loss and waste and expand food recovery. It directs USDA, EPA, and FDA to coordinate research, data collection, measurement, and outreach aimed at reaching a goal of reducing food loss and waste 50% from 2016 levels by 2030. Requires public reporting, new federal contractor and agency reporting on prevention and donations, technical assistance and longer application windows for smaller and tribal applicants, and grants that require non‑Federal matches. Authorizes multi‑year funding for FY2026–FY2030 for the Office, grants, regional efforts, partnerships, and an education campaign.