Baltimore City’s Office of Sustainability recently released its Food Waste Recovery Strategy, written in partnership with ILSR. The strategy recommends ways that Baltimore can recover edible food, reduce food waste, and compost food scraps. The Office of Sustainability drew on ILSR’s Hierarchy to Reduce Food Waste and Build Community when developing its strategy. In the Office of Sustainability press release, Mayor Pugh said, “Locally based composting, keeps dollars in the community, promotes strong neighborhoods, cleans and enriches Baltimore’s soil, and importantly, supports local food production and food security.”
The report is divided into four parts and features seven case studies of food rescue and recovery projects in Baltimore. Case studies include Goucher College Food Recovery Network and the Franciscan Center under the “Food Waste Reduction and Recovery” potential solution category; Real Food Farm and the Baltimore Compost Collective for “Composting at Home and in the Community;” Johns Hopkins University Homewood Campus and Camp Small under “Creating Scalable Composting Infrastructure;” and Federal Hill Preparatory School for “Composting in K-12 Schools.”
The goals outlined in the plan include:
- Reduce commercial food waste in Baltimore City by 50% by 2040
- Eliminate all food waste from higher education institutions by 2040
- Divert 90% of food and organic waste generated by Baltimore City government agencies from landfill or incineration by 2040
- Reduce household food waste in Baltimore City by 80% by 2040
- Ensure all Baltimore City residents have access to organic waste collection at home or in their neighborhoods by 2040
- Divert 80% of residential food and organic waste from landfill or incineration by 2040
- Create composting and/or anaerobic digestion facilities in the Baltimore region capable of processing all of Baltimore City’s organic waste by 2040
- Support the food waste diversion market by ensuring an adequate supply of organic waste is being diverted to compost and anaerobic digestion facilities
- Attain 90% food and recyclable waste diversion in Baltimore City K-12 schools by 2040
- Create a supportive culture for food waste reduction and diversion in K-12 students, faculty, and staff
