Food Recovery Act of 2017 This bill provides funding and establishes requirements to reduce food waste and standardize date labeling on food. The bill authorizes grants or loans for: raising awareness about wasted food and food recovery efforts to reduce the quantity of wasted food; reducing food waste at schools and farms; and reducing food waste in accordance with the Food Recovery Hierarchy of the Environmental Protection Agency, including for a state organic waste reduction plan, food waste management infrastructure, and certain composting or anaerobic digestion food waste-to-energy projects. The bill provides funds for: (1) state storage and distribution costs under the Emergency Food Assistance Program, and (2) national media campaigns to decrease food waste. The bill also: establishes a Food Recovery Liaison within the Department of Agriculture (USDA), specifies that composting is eligible for support under USDA's conservation programs, expands the liability protections for the donation of food, and requires companies that receive federal food service contracts to donate surplus food to nonprofit organizations that assist food-insecure people. The bill requires date labels on food packaging to include the phrases "best if used by" to indicate food quality and "use by" to warn of food that may be unsafe to eat after a specified date. Labelers may include a quality date on packaging, but must include a safety date on ready-to-eat products. No one may prohibit the sale, donation, or use of a product based on passage of the quality date of the product.
Accounting and auditingAdministrative law and regulatory proceduresAgricultural conservation and pollutionAgricultural educationAgricultural prices, subsidies, creditAlternative and renewable resourcesCharitable contributionsCivil actions and liabilityCongressional operations and organizationCongressional oversightConsumer affairsDepartment of AgricultureEducation programs fundingElementary and secondary educationExecutive agency funding and structureFood assistance and reliefFood industry and servicesFood supply, safety, and labelingGovernment information and archivesGovernment lending and loan guaranteesGovernment studies and investigationsLivestockMarketing and advertisingMeatPublic contracts and procurementRetail and wholesale tradesSocial work, volunteer service, charitable organizationsSolid waste and recyclingState and local government operations
A bill to decrease the incidence of food waste, and for other purposes.
USA115th CongressS-1680| Senate
| Updated: 7/31/2017
Food Recovery Act of 2017 This bill provides funding and establishes requirements to reduce food waste and standardize date labeling on food. The bill authorizes grants or loans for: raising awareness about wasted food and food recovery efforts to reduce the quantity of wasted food; reducing food waste at schools and farms; and reducing food waste in accordance with the Food Recovery Hierarchy of the Environmental Protection Agency, including for a state organic waste reduction plan, food waste management infrastructure, and certain composting or anaerobic digestion food waste-to-energy projects. The bill provides funds for: (1) state storage and distribution costs under the Emergency Food Assistance Program, and (2) national media campaigns to decrease food waste. The bill also: establishes a Food Recovery Liaison within the Department of Agriculture (USDA), specifies that composting is eligible for support under USDA's conservation programs, expands the liability protections for the donation of food, and requires companies that receive federal food service contracts to donate surplus food to nonprofit organizations that assist food-insecure people. The bill requires date labels on food packaging to include the phrases "best if used by" to indicate food quality and "use by" to warn of food that may be unsafe to eat after a specified date. Labelers may include a quality date on packaging, but must include a safety date on ready-to-eat products. No one may prohibit the sale, donation, or use of a product based on passage of the quality date of the product.
Accounting and auditingAdministrative law and regulatory proceduresAgricultural conservation and pollutionAgricultural educationAgricultural prices, subsidies, creditAlternative and renewable resourcesCharitable contributionsCivil actions and liabilityCongressional operations and organizationCongressional oversightConsumer affairsDepartment of AgricultureEducation programs fundingElementary and secondary educationExecutive agency funding and structureFood assistance and reliefFood industry and servicesFood supply, safety, and labelingGovernment information and archivesGovernment lending and loan guaranteesGovernment studies and investigationsLivestockMarketing and advertisingMeatPublic contracts and procurementRetail and wholesale tradesSocial work, volunteer service, charitable organizationsSolid waste and recyclingState and local government operations