Food and Farm Act

In March 2023, Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and four co-sponsors introduced the Food and Farm Act (H.R. 1824) to reform federal safety net programs for agricultural producers and refocus federal resources, including directing additional resources to reducing food waste.

Regarding food waste, the bill would:

• Set forth Congressional findings describing the economic, social, and environmental costs of food waste and the importance of investing in food waste reduction actions.
• Establish and fund a federal Office of Food Waste to coordinate federal food waste reduction efforts by allocating $100 million of funding from the Commodity Credit Corporation beginning in 2024 and continuing through 2028.
• Create a food loss and waste reduction task force to advise and support the USDA and EPA in meeting the national goal of reducing food waste by 50% by 2030.
• Require the standardization, aggregation, and publication of food waste data.