U.S. Food Waste Pact

Your roadmap to cut food waste and costs

We're offering Practice Greenhealth partners access to a proven roadmap to help you achieve your food waste reduction goals, driving cost savings, operational efficiency, and progress toward your climate and community health objectives.

The U.S. Food Waste Pact is a national voluntary agreement that helps businesses commit to and drive measurable food waste reduction by providing a proven framework and resources to implement strategies for source reduction, donation, and recycling. We've made it easy for Practice Greenhealth partners to participate in the pact. 
 

Join the pact 

"Not only does this project impact greenhouse gases by keeping food waste out of the landfill…it is also about dollars saved, which is important to hospital administrators..."       
–  Jack Breezee, former Sutter Health regional director of food and nutrition services

The pact is smart business 

• Eliminating food waste is proven to improve the organization's bottom line and operational efficiency.
• Food service operations save an average of $7 for every $1 invested in waste reduction interventions.
• The pact provides a plan to tackle overproduction, which is responsible for 65% of food waste in health care – the single biggest opportunity to increase operational efficiency and cut costs.
   

The pact is healthy for people & planet

• Community impact: Redirect nutritious surplus food through donation and recovery programs to improve food security and address food insecurity as a social determinant of health.
• Climate action: Food waste accounts for 8%-17% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and the pact helps facilities achieve institutional goals around resilience and climate. 

Learn more about food waste impacts and practical solutions for health care

“At Providence, we understand that wasted food is more than wasted dollars. It represents wasted nourishment, energy, water, labor, and natural resources. We signed onto the U.S. Food Waste Pact because we believe health care can lead on this issue. The pact offers a collaborative, solutions-oriented approach to reducing food waste in complex health care settings. By participating, we can help develop best practices while raising awareness that reducing food waste strengthens resilience in health care and food systems.”         
 – Sarah E. Johnson, RN, Providence clinical program manager

“We were inspired to join the U.S. Food Waste Pact because it provides a clear, collaborative framework to measure and reduce food waste...Having shared goals and accountability across organizations helps us strengthen our internal efforts, learn from peers, and continue building momentum toward more sustainable food practices.”         
 –  Allison Watson, Rush University Medical Center sustainability coordinator

The pact is part of a national commitment

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The U.S. Food Waste Pact is a cross-sector, national voluntary agreement, led by ReFED and the World Wildlife Fund for organizations working toward a goal of cutting food waste by 50% by 2030.

The U.S. Food Waste Pact is a national voluntary agreement that uses the “Target, Measure, Act” framework to reduce food waste across the supply chain. The pact works with waste-generating food businesses to collect and analyze data about food waste in their operations, share best practices through collaborative working groups, and pilot and scale solutions through intervention projects. 

This commitment aligns with the U.S. National Strategy to reduce food loss and waste and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12.3.

Ready to get started?

Fill out the form below to join the Food Waste Pact.