New Indiana group to look at ways to reduce food waste

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – A newly formed group has set its sights on reducing food waste in Indiana.

The stakeholders involved in the new Indiana Food Scrap Initiative include local governments, food banks, farmers, food producers, grocers, event venues and restaurants.

Indiana Recycling Coalition Executive Director Carey Hamilton says the group is planning a series of meetings in the coming months focusing on the causes behind food waste and identifying ways to divert as much food from landfills as possible.

Hamilton says very little infrastructure for managing food scraps currently exists in Indiana but the initiative will study ways to save more food “at every rung of the waste management hierarchy.”

Americans waste an estimated 35 million tons of food each year that gets discarded and is valued at about $165 billion.