SOCAN General Meeting on Zoom – Food Waste and the Climate Crisis: What to know & what to do

Food Waste and theClimate Crisis: What to know & what to do

In 2022, the U.S. department of Agriculture stated: “Food loss and waste …exacerbates the climate crisis with its significant GHG footprint. Production,transportation, and handling of food generate significant carbon dioxide (CO₂)emissions, and when food ends up in landfills, it generates methane, an even more potent greenhouse gas.”

A 2021 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report concluded that “eachyear, U.S. food loss and waste embodies 170 million metric tons of climatepollution– equal to the annual CO₂ emissions of 42 coal-fired powerplants.” This doesn’t even take landfill methane into account.

To learn more about food waste and what we can do to address it, joinSouthern Oregon Climate Action Now (SOCAN) at their March 28^thGeneral Meeting online from 6:00 to 7:00pm. This month’s topic is “Food Wasteand the Climate Crisis: What to Know & What to Do” with featured speakers FlaviaFranco of Southern Oregon Food Solutions, Jeanette Hardison of the CorvallisSustainability Coalition, and Ellie Cosgrove of Rogue Valley Farm 2 School.

There is no charge for joining the ZOOM meeting, but participants mustregister at the link on the SOCAN calendar event: socan.eco/food-waste.

In response to the food waste problem April 10 – 16 has been designatedas ‘Food Waste Prevention Week’ nationwide. In order to raise awareness and toengage with folks about solutions. Oregon’s Department of Environmental Qualityis a sponsor of this campaign.