Wait! Before you throw out that food …

Throwing away food is a terrible waste. Consider that a fifth of America's fresh water is wasted on crops that go directly to landfills. Worse yet, food waste that goes into landfills creates other problems too, such as millions of tons of greenhouse gases. 

Los Angeles is taking steps to stop putting food waste into landfills as part of the city's zero waste by 2025 initiative. Earlier this year, the city's curbside recycling program that picks up blue bins from single-family homes expanded to include 80,000 commercial and apartment buildings. 

In addition to picking up recyclables, the expanded program, recycle, also collects and distributes edible food for the needy.

Here's how it works: Service providers pick up edible food from a restaurant or other business and develop a way to get it to those most in need. Most work with existing organizations to distribute worthy food. This year, the state's CalRecycle issued $9.4 million in grants to organizations such as Food Finders, Food Forward, LA Kitchen and St. Francis Center to continue their work in reducing food waste and feeding the poor.

What happens when they collect too much food which may be perishable? The L.A. Zoo is happy to use it to feed their animals, to the tune of about 10 tons each month. 

Sierra Club, as part of the Don’t Waste LA coalition, encourages individuals and businesses to consider how best to cut down on food waste. 

For individuals, it may mean buying less food or giving extra food away before pitching it the garbage.  For businesses, it may mean working with haulers to identify a way to pick up and distribute edible food. 

7 reasons you need to recycling your food waste

Californians throw away nearly 6 million tons of food scraps or food waste each year. What happens if we make smarter use of the food we're throwing away? The Los Angeles Food Policy Council looked and that very question and recommends seven things L.A. can do as individuals and as a community. 

1. We need to divert food waste from landfills: Organic material contributes up to 35% of waste in L.A.’s landfills. California needs to achieve 75% waste diversion by 2020, and the City of L.A. has set a goal of 90% waste diversion by 2025. 

2. We need to give edible food to the needy: Close to 1.5 million people in Los Angeles County are unsure of how and when they will get their next meal. Nearly 40% of low-income adults in the county are food insecure. Discarded food, much of which is still fit for human consumption, should be donated to local food banks and food recovery organizations to feed the needy.

3. We need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: If food waste were a country, it would be the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Food waste that rots in landfills becomes a significant source of methane emissions—a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Diverting food from landfills helps L.A. comply with many state-mandated policies related to reducing air pollution and improving air quality. 

4. We need to rebuild our depleted soils: Due to urban development and unsustainable farming practices, we have eroded more than 50% of the carbon stock from our topsoil across all of L.A.'s arable land. Turning organic material into compost and applying it to our homes and gardens returns key soil organisms that are crucial to jump-starting soil restoration that can lead to greater quality food production at a neighborhood and regional level. 

5. We need to replenish local water stores: Regular application of soil amendments like compost and mulch supports plants’ ability to rebuild soil aggregates. Those aggregates increase water-holding capacity of plants and decrease water runoff. Twenty-five percent of the water used in the U.S. is for growing food, and that water is ultimately lost or wasted when we throw food away. Composting and mulch decreases the amount of water needed for food production and recycles unused food to help restore our groundwater supply. 

6. We need to develop more job opportunities: On a per-ton basis, composting sustains twice as many jobs as landfilling and four times the number of jobs as burning garbage Specialization in organics, food waste diversion and food waste processing has potential to create jobs and new recycling enterprises.