Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment

In the United States, 35% of food goes unsold or uneaten. It has enormous impacts on the environment – consuming cropland, freshwater, and other natural resources, while contributing approximately 4% of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Food waste also affects the economy – new estimates put the cost of food waste in the Pacific Coast region alone at more than $65 billion, which is shouldered by businesses and consumers alike. And in 2020, COVID-19 brought the issue of food waste to national attention, as pandemic-related disruptions and bottlenecks caused spikes in the amount of loss and waste throughout the supply chain. The Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment is a voluntary agreement between food businesses and governments along the West Coast who are working together to cut food waste in the region in half by 2030. Food businesses signing on to the agreement make a commitment to reduce waste within their operations; they're supported in these efforts by jurisdictions in California, Oregon, and Washington, plus Vancouver, British Columbia, along with nonprofit resource partners Cascadia Policy Solutions, ReFED, WRAP UK, and WWF. Businesses signing on to the effort include grocery retailers Albertsons Companies’ West Coast divisions (which includes Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, and Pavilions stores), The Kroger Co., New Seasons Market, PCC Markets, and Raleys, and manufacturers' association Food Northwest. Through collaboration across the food system, this effort is helping to scale food waste prevention efforts, share knowledge and best practices among agreement signatories, and attract more funders to the cause. The Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment is a project of the Pacific Coast Collaborative, a public-private partnership between businesses and jurisdictions across the region to create the low-carbon economy of the future. The Pacific Coast of North America represents the world’s fifth-largest economy, with a combined GDP of $3 trillion.