City of Chula Vista
Home MenuReducing Food Waste
According to the EPA, in 2019, an estimated 96% of wasted food from US households ended up in a landfill, combustion facility, or down the drain.
Each year, the average American family of four loses $1,500 to uneaten food. Wasted food wastes many other resources including:
- 80% of all fresh water used in the United States
- 50% of the land
- 10% of the total U.S. energy budget
The EPA’s Wasted Food Scale prioritizes actions that prevent and divert wasted food from disposal. Tiers of the scale highlight different pathways for preventing or managing wasted food, arranged in order from most preferred on the top left to least preferred on the top right.
The most preferred pathways – prevent wasted food, donate and upcycle food – offer the most benefits to the environment and to a circular economy. These “top” pathways prioritize using food for its intended purpose: to nourish people. The least preferred pathways – landfilling, incineration, and sending food down the drain – have the largest environmental impacts and have limited potential for circularity.
For many informative tips on preventing food waste at home, visit the Environmental Protection Agency’s Website.
The US Department of Agriculture also has many informative tips on their website.
The County of San Diego’s website has food waste prevention tips on their website.
The San Diego Food System Alliance’s mission is to cultivate a healthy, sustainable, and just food system in San Diego County.
Access to Food Resources
If you are looking for available food resources, click hereGleaning
Gleaning organizations visit orchards, backyards, farms, farmers markets and grocers in an effort to harvest excess or unwanted produce. Whether you have one tree or several, join other residents and businesses in San Diego County that donate their excess fruit. The collected produce is distributed to local hunger relief organizations.
Contact the following Gleaning organizations if you have an overabundance of fruit or produce from your garden:
I Love to Glean I Love to Glean is a fiscally sponsored nonprofit formed to facilitate countrywide food recovery systems that increase the capacity for recovery and distribution of otherwise wasted food. We work with feeding agencies, kitchens, and direct clients.
ProduceGood is committed to reducing food waste and hunger while building community by gleaning excess produce from orchards, backyards, farms, Farmers Markets, and grocers and delivering it to the food insecure of San Diego County.
Senior Gleaners celebrated its 30th anniversary as one of the first gleaning groups in San Diego County and one of the largest with more than 200 senior volunteers.