Hello again!

[Brandi Clark Burton]

Feels like so long since we last "spoke"

We are about to wrap up our official Year of Food Waste Prevention and Recovery.

Though we haven't been having group meetings I have not slowed down talking with people and sharing the message about food waste. I recently gave a talk at the First UU Community Forum that will be televised at some point. I spoke to the Purchasing agents for the City at their Organic Soup Potluck Lunch and Learn last month.

I have also become a more active volunteer with Keep Austin Fed, which I recommend to all of you.

Today I got a draft of a document from Lucia Athens that the Office of Sustainability is putting together as an official document. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GLmKjeapz49OIlhQFi5EEj0Jgq6XkXtrnzxlPunfk1I/edit?usp=sharing
She asked for input, especially on the intro and the list of places food can be donated. Between me, Joseph de Leon, our awesome Austin EcoNetwork intern Marie, Janis, Randy and a bunch of others, we have a decent list going but want to make the list even more complete.

Brandi Clark Burton

Founder & Chief Inspiration Officer
Austin EcoNetwork & EcoNetworking

Cell: 512-939-9776

AustinEcoNetwork.com
EcoNetworking.com

@EcoBrandi  @AustinEcoNet

[tom....@gmail.com]

2 points:

1. Must the recipient of food donation have a permitted facility? It seems that it would be ideal to handle food responsibly and give direct to those in need, for instance, on a street corner.

I assume a food truck could be a "permitted facility?" So that may be a solution.

2. The last section "home prepared foods." If i make some PB&J sandwiches for some homeless folk, I am breaking the law. This is too extreme. It even states that churches do this.

I think this impedes progress. Why limit feeding hungry people?

This section needs work.

Tom Rutz

VP, GreenThumb Compost LLC

512 369 0998

Sent from my iPhone

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Food Surplus & Salvage Working Group" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to foodsurplus...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.

[Joseph de Leon]

Many thanks to everyone who has helped put this together. I agree with Tom, some of these rules seem to go too far.

 

If recipients have to be permitted facilities, many of Keep Austin Fed's recipients would become ineligible.

 

Asking the donor to vet the recipient's facilities is extreme. How will they do this, arrange for a site visit? Then schedule regular follow-up visits to make sure the recipient remains compliant? It'd be far easier for a commerical kitchen operator to just throw the food away.

 

Third party transporters like Keep Austin Fed rely on volunteers to move the food. None of us have commercial grade refrigerated trucks to move food. Making safe zone transporting a requirement would kill our organization, as well as others like it, such as UT's Food Recovery Network. We liken it to grocery shopping or ordering food to go -- who here uses a refrigerator or food warmer when moving the food you serve your family? Food can get into the "danger zone" for a max of about 2 hours and still be safe to eat, so it would be far more reasonable to stipulate a 1 or 2-hour buffer to account for transport.

 

The labeling seems harsh. I understand the desire for it, but I could see it being a big barrier. Keep Austin Fed regularly recieves bread, produce, and surplus prepared food in bulk without those labels. It's sometimes a battle just to get donors to set the surplus food aside, but if they also had to go through the time and expense to produce and afix labels, I could see the trash bin filling up pretty quick.

 

"The donated foods that are potentially hazardous must not be used for consumption past the shelf life expiration date..." Expiration dates on packaging are more about quality control and making money and less about protecting people from food-borne illness. Prepared foods are a different story, but for cans and processed food, the expiration dates are practically meaningless.

 

We prohibit Keep Austin Fed volunteers from handing out food on a street corner. There are safety, liability, and waste concerns.

 

I believe we all want to reduce food waste and help feed hungry people. I know we're talking about people's health, so I'm not trying to advocate for double standards, but rather a leniency that not only recognizes that this food is precious, but also honors the fact that many of our neighbors go hungry while food rots in waste bins. If there is a way to loosen the requirements or perhaps rely more on best practices as opposed to prohibitions and must dos, then I think we can help a lot more people.

Thank you,
Joseph de Leon
512-294-4584

[Daniela Ochoa]

Thanks for sharing, sorry for the delay (I just read it) we r in Mexico for the holidays.

Looking forward to see how I can help promote this in 2014.

May y'all have a delicious and prosperous new year!

Daniela Ochoa González
SOLURSO, Principal
www.solurso.org
Cell +1 (512)-744-5753 Tel  +1(512) 861 5091

[Joep Meijer [TRE,Austin]]

Here is a short inspiring video from Europe.

Food waste restaurant in Copenhagen: The restaurant that serves up rejected food

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25449219

 

All the best,

 

Joep Meijer

President

........

theRightenvironment Ltd.Co.

912 Rocky Spring Road - Austin, TX 78735 - cell 512.669.2305

joepm...@therightenvironment.net - www.therightenvironment.net
........
News ROCKWOOL Rockfon is developing EPDs for their European markets in France, Germany, The Netherlands and Norway

........

The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments are intended for the named recipient(s) only. It may also be privileged and confidential. If you are not an intended recipient, you must take no action as a result of receiving it, including, but not limited to, copying, distributing and amending it. If the communication has been sent to you in error, please contact us immediately and do not show the communication to any other party. We, theRightenvironment Ltd.Co. shall have no liability whatsoever in respect of the content of the communication and make no warranty as to accuracy. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author.