EPA Honors PA College Consortium For Food Recovery Challenge Achievement

The U.S Environmental Protection Agency Thursday honored the PA Environmental Resources Consortium for recruiting 22 Pennsylvania colleges and universities to participate in EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge and help reduce, donate, and recycle excess food from more than 100,000 students.

“As a Food Recovery Challenge Endorser, PERC has jumped to the forefront of Food Recovery efforts in Pennsylvania,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin. “By targeting colleges and universities for food recovery, we are educating our future leaders to become better stewards of the environment while also encouraging sustainability and reducing the environmental impact of excess waste.”

Regional Administrator Garvin presented PERC Executive Director Josh Hooper with EPA’s prestigious Food Recovery Challenge Endorser of the Year Award for 2014 during a ceremony at Franklin & Marshall College, one of the 22 participating Pennsylvania schools.

“The Pennsylvania Higher Education Food Recovery Challenge works because it helps students, professors and staff share their successes in food recovery with participants on other campuses across the state,” said Hooper. “Learning what worked for others in a similar situation minimizes the learning curve and increases the amount of food we can recover together.”

Since 2013, EPA has been working with PERC to develop the Pennsylvania Higher Education Food Recovery Challenge program.  PERC provides colleges and universities with technical assistance and helps facilitate how schools can divert surplus food away from landfills and onto the tables of those in need or designate it for composting.

PERC’s program supports EPA’s Food Recovery efforts and provides data to EPA on food diversion, donation and composting occurring at colleges and universities across the state.

Surplus food is one of the largest types of materials sent to landfills.

While much of it is actually wholesome food that could potentially feed millions of Americans, less than five percent of surplus food is currently being recovered.

Through its Food Recovery Challenge, EPA and its partners encourage organizations to reduce, donate, and recycle as much of their excess food as possible, which saves money, feeds the needy, and helps protect the environment.

The Food Recovery Challenge encourages organizations to donate and divert as much of their excess food as possible. Organizations that join EPA’s challenge find that they can save money on disposal costs while helping to feed families in need and protect the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

A complete list of participating Pennsylvania colleges and universities is available online.