Food Waste Resources

Learn about food waste

Visit this digital museum exhibit on the history of food waste, by Utah State University. The US has been dealing with this issue through the ages-- spend a few minutes browsing this virtual museum to learn more!

Refer to this in-depth report on food waste in the US, by the NRDC. Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill. This is a go-to resource for reliable information.

Watch Wasted! The story of Food Waste (2017) A stunning documentary featuring celebrated chefs, everyday eaters, and innovators using creativity to tackle the problem of food waste across the world. We screened this film at an MFP event, but you can watch at home!

Reduce food waste in your own home

Explore Your Plan, Your Planet: an interactive tool that will help you scrutinize your own food waste behaviors, pick up tips for helping your food stay fresher longer, and make a pledge to make (attainable) change. You'll have fun playing this with kids! Produced by Google, the California Academy of Sciences, and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Use the Guest-Imator to estimate the right amount of food for your next dinner party, and the Meal Prep Mate to help plan your next shopping trip-- both tools from the NRDC's Save the Food campaign.

Learn how to store food safely so that it stays fresher longer! Pick up some storage tips for fresh perishable foods here:

And of course, you can take a workshop with the Master Food Preservers or use our online resources to learn about longer-term food storage through freezing, dehydrating, pickling, and canning.

Have food you can't eat?

Donate it to help those in need.

grocery rescue: retailers can send unsold food to Second Harvest
donate food: to Second Harvest
perishable, prepared food from an event or from your kitchen: call the Food Runners to pick it up!

Rest easy knowing that the Good Samaritan Food Donation act (AB1219) protects food donors from legal liability.

If you have time to donate rather than food, Second Harvest of Silicon Valley and the Food Runners also need volunteers!

As a last resort, use your food to feed your garden! Learn to compost from our colleagues at:

Spread the word

A number of organizations have created resources that make it easy to teach and learn about food waste. Check out the toolkits from:

US EPA - Food: too good to waste
NRDC - Save The Food
King County, WA - Food: too good to waste