Mission: Rescue Food Waste

Do you remember the Choose Your Own Adventure era? The time when popular books were flying off bookshelves and readers were able to “choose” a story’s outcome? Illinois is repeating that era right now. 

This time, food security and compost are the main characters, and you are on the adventure. Illinois’ food management system has been woefully antiquated and wasteful. Approximately one-third of our food is sent to landfills, where it rots and generates 58% of the methane emitted by landfills. One-third?! Why settle for methane when we could feed people, our soils and even livestock across the state? Especially when experts estimate that 1 in 8 Illinoisans are food-insecure?

Today’s adventure is a smorgasbord of steps you can take to turn that number around. First is to use this template email to contact your legislator and urge them to support Senate Bill 2852 (Food Recovery and Diversion Bill), which addresses these economic and environmental problems in a pragmatic, cost-sensitive manner. It requires commercial and institutional establishments—such as groceries, restaurants, and universities—to donate or compost their excess food. (Households are not affected by the bill.)

Research by DePaul University in 2024 found that less than half of surveyed groceries used programs to rescue unsold food…yikes! SB2852 is modeled after a similar law in New York, which increased food donation by 60% and composting by 500% in the first year after it took effect.

Another step you can take is to do an audit of your kitchen and trash. Many food pantries accept non-perishable donations; do you have canned foods you don’t actually want to eat? Are there perishable foods you buy regularly, but you notice they frequently wind up in your garbage because nobody ate them? Freezing food helps it last longer, and making a list before grocery shopping can help you buy just what you need. Or you can subscribe to a grocery delivery service like Imperfect Foods, which delivers yummy, blemished foods to your doorstep.

One of the highest climate actions you can take is to compost. The City of Chicago even offers a free composting program that, from 2023-2025, turned more than 1.2 million pounds of food waste into nutrient-rich soil! This program has prevented greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to burning 44,700 gallons of gasoline.

The "best" ending to this adventure is if SB2852 is implemented and becomes law!

The Environmental Action Committee meets on the second Monday of each month at 4:30 pm—email us at environment@lwvchicago.org to join.