Los Angeles Scores Big on Food Recovery Grants

CalRecycle will issue $9.4 million in Food Recovery Grants.

Recycla

Several Los Angeles organizations were singled out by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), which is issuing $9.4 million as part of its Food Waste Prevention and Rescue Grant Program Awards. Grant recipients include organizations working with recycLA service providers to increase food recovery in the City of Los Angeles, such as Food Finders, Food Forward, LA Kitchen, and St. Francis Center.

As part of the City's new recycLA program, service providers work with local food rescue nonprofits to divert edible food from landfills and into the hands of people who need it. Several of the organizations working with recycLA service providers have been selected by CalRecycle to receive grants to continue their work in reducing food waste.

"There are an estimated 50,000 people homeless in Los Angeles alone, so need to recover and divert food is more important than ever. Food is a recyclable resource that should not and need not be wasted," said Commissioner Heather Marie Repenning, Vice President of the Board. "We're proud to be working with organizations that are assisting in getting edible food to individuals experiencing food insecurity throughout the City." Last year, the Los Angeles Board of Public Works (BPW) voted unanimously to establish a Zero Food Waste Task Force to work with various City agencies and recycLA service providers to explore and promote opportunities in Los Angeles to reduce food waste, increase the amount of recyclable resources and create clean, renewable energy.

LA Sanitation is currently undertaking an unprecedented expansion of its recycling services beyond single family residences to include 80,000 commercial and apartment buildings through its new program, called "recycLA." This innovative program is a public-private partnership that will eliminate the city's dependence on landfills and position Los Angeles as the first big city in the nation to achieve zero waste by 2025. Each of the seven service providers have established Food Rescue Programs that will assist in the collection of edible food, fit for human consumption, and to create or develop the necessary network for delivering the food to those who need it the most.

For more information about the recycLA Food Rescue and Materials Reuse Programs, please visit www.lacitysan.org.

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