Managing Excess Food & Scraps in the Androscoggin Valley: Reduce, Donate, Compost

Approximately 15 percent of households in the Androscoggin Valley are food insecure, yet over 20 percent of the material entering landfills is food, much of which is edible. There are many opportunities to reduce the generation of food waste, donate edible food to help those in need, and compost the rest. The Workshop was designed for food producers, farmers, distributors, retailers, schools, food pantries, meal sites, and anyone interested in reducing the amount of food that is sent for disposal to:

• Discover opportunities to reduce the amount of food that becomes waste and save businesses money
• Make connections with others working to increase food recovery and donation
• Find out what can and cannot be donated and to where
• Learn about liability protections and tax deductions for food donation
• Find out about local options for composting food that can’t be donated
• Hear success stories and ideas for new opportunities

The Workshop featured representatives from Androscoggin Gleaners, Bates College, Exeter Agri-Energy, Good Shepard Food Bank, Hannaford Supermarkets, Lean Path, Maine DEP, U.S. EPA, Whole Crops, and We Compost It!

Sponsored by:

Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments
Good Shephard Food Bank
Maine Gleaning Network
University of Maine Cooperative Extension
NEWMOA

Agenda

9:00 Welcome, Objectives, & Introductions
Becky Secrest, AVCOG

9:10  Reducing the Generation of Wasted Food

Preventing Wasted Food: The Business Opportunity
Steve Finn, LeanPath

Case Study
Christine Schwartz, Bates College

Connecting Businesses to Farms to Reduce Excess/Overage
Hannah Semler, Whole Crops

10:30  Networking Break

10:45  Getting Good Food to Those That Can Use It

How Food Recovery & Donation Works in the Region
Nancy Perry, Good Shepard Food Bank

Promoting Food Donation: liability protections, tax incentives, date labels
Christine Beling, EPA Region 1 & Erika Dunyak, Harvard Food Law & Policy Clinic

Case Study
Sherri Stevens, Hannaford Supermarket

Making the Connection Between Farms & Food Recovery: Gleaning
Scott Roberts, Androscoggin Gleaners

12:45 Composting What You Can’t Reduce or Donate

Using a Commercial Composter

Greg Williams, Agri-Energy

Bill Crawford, We Compost It!

Composting On-site
Mark King, ME DEP