Why Are Businesses Afraid to Donate Food?

It may be obvious, but we’ll come out and say it: nobody is throwing away edible food on purpose. Food waste is not the result of villains in smoky rooms twirling their mustaches and plotting ways to trash good food.

One unfortunate misconception that causes unnecessary waste is the idea that companies shouldn’t donate excess food because they can get sued if someone gets sick. Since consumer-facing businesses, like grocery stores, account for 40% of the food waste in this country, we want to dig into this myth a little more: Why are we so afraid of donating food in the U.S. when the law actually encourages donations?

A law exists to protect donors.

The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act (Emerson Act) is a federal law passed on October 1, 1996 by President Bill Clinton. This law was enacted to protect businesses from civil and criminal liability when donating food in good faith, should it later cause harm to the recipient. The food must be distributed by the nonprofit to needy individuals who may not pay for it and the food must meet all federal, state, and local quality and labeling requirements.

So why is there so much food waste if businesses can donate it without liability?

While there are no documented cases of anyone in the United States being sued or having to pay damages because of harms related to donated food, this fear still plagues well-intentioned efforts to recover food. A 2016 survey by the Food Waste Reduction Alliance found that 67% of manufacturers, 61% of restaurants, and 54% of retailers said that liability concerns were still a barrier to donation. As our friend Matt Jozwiak of Rethink Food NYC shared on the Imperfect podcast, this misconception affects the restaurant industry, too. He explained that for Rethink, a huge barrier to getting restaurants to donate their edible leftovers are unfounded fears that donations could get a restaurant in trouble.

While it’s clear the 1996 law was a good step in the right direction, it’s time for an update. Experts at the NRDC agree that the Good Samaritan law needs to become more comprehensive. In their 2016 report the NRDC argued that, among other things, the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan act needs an executive agency responsible for implementing it, broader language that protects nonprofits who sell discounted food and their donors, and guidance around food labels that are relevant to food safety and those that aren’t

What are other countries doing?

The good news is that many countries are taking steps to incentivize food donations. In 2015, a new policy was implemented in Seoul that made households pay for recycling according to how much food they throw out. This policy decreased food waste by 10% in the first four years and has now been rolled out in 16 additional Korean cities. In 2016, France became the first country to ban supermarkets from throwing away unsold food, even food approaching its “best before” date. French supermarkets were already donating 35,000 metric tons of food annually, but if supermarkets can increase their food bank donations by just 15% this could mean 10 million more meals for hungry French people each year. Finally, Australia and Norway have recently set targets to halve food waste produced country-wide by 2030. Australia, specifically, has invested 1.2 million dollars over two years in food rescue organizations to help achieve this target.

What is Imperfect doing?

We proudly embrace the joy of sharing food to people who need it. We donate tens of thousands of pounds of groceries every week to food banks and nonprofit organizations across the country. To date, we’ve donated over 5.7 million pounds of food. We’re also hard at work spreading awareness about the work that remains to be done to make donating easier, which is where we need your help!

What can you do?

As with many political issues, one of the best ways to take action is to speak up and contact your local and national representatives. It’s heartening to see lawmakers introduce new legislation aimed at encouraging food recovery in the last few years. The 2018 Farm Bill even included updates to the Emerson Act, but there’s still work to be done!

As the NRDC stressed, the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act needs to be modified in order to make a difference. You can help spread the word and make change happen. Click here to look up your representatives’ contact information.

When you write to your representative, ask for the following improvements to the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act:

1. Assign an executive agency to interpret, enforce, and expand awareness of the act.
2. Broaden the language to protect donations to nonprofits that sell food at a discounted price.
3. Modify the language to cover food mislabeling that is irrelevant to food safety and past-date food.

Thanks for caring about food waste in this country. When it comes to building a better food system for everyone, your voice matters and we hope you speak up!