Policy Finder Relaunch

Legislative and Regulatory Action to Reduce Food Waste

Policy is a critical lever for accelerating the adoption of food waste reduction solutions at a large scale — and the past few years have been pivotal for food waste policy at all levels of government, including the bipartisan passage of the Food Donation Improvement Act at the end of 2022. To help make sense of the policy landscape, last February ReFED relaunc hed the Food Waste Policy Finder, an online resource developed and maintained in partnership with the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic, enabling users to explore legislative an d regulatory policy — including best practices and proposed legislation — at the federal, state, and local levels.

“Policy is unique in its power to provide a broad mandate that can move the food system to action. That’s why we’re excited to see so much movement on policies that have the potential to drive significant reductions in food waste. Over 75 state policies were introduced in 2022. Not all of these proposed bills were actually enacted, but the fact that food waste is part of the conversation is an important step forward. We’re excited to see what developments lie ahead.”

Samantha Goerger Policy Fellow, ReFED