ANAHEIM, CA — Orange County’s Waste Not Coalition received a large Food Waste Prevention and Rescue grant Monday, along with seven organizations and one city in Los Angeles County. The funds received by all totaled in excess of $2.6 million, from the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery.
The program is part of California’s strategy to combat climate change, and the Southland recipients were among 31 projects in the state that received more than $9.4 million from CalRecycle.
The goal of the program is decreasing the estimated six million tons of food waste that ends up in landfills in California each year, and increasing the state’s capacity to deliver food to the roughly one in eight Californians who are food insecure.
“Bolstering California’s food recovery infrastructure will help feed communities in need, create new jobs, and result in significant greenhouse gas reductions,” CalRecycle Director Scott Smithline said. “Our hope is that these programs will inspire similar efforts throughout California.”
The Orange County recipient is the Waste Not OC Coalition, which received $500,000.
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The L.A. County grant recipients are:
— Food Finders Inc., $100,000;
— Food Forward, $500,000;
— Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, $386,960;
— St. Francis Center, $100,000;
— The Midnight Mission, $100,000;
— City of Culver City, $497,144;
— Los Angeles Conservation Corps, $375,206; and
— Strong Food/L.A. Kitchen Inc., $389,387.
Volunteers for Waste Not OC are always welcome, according to the City of Anaheim. Food runners help to distribute food to those in need. Restaurants can also help through the donation of excess food.
Find out more ways to get involved at WasteNotOC.org.