In October of 2016, the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic released Keeping Food Out of the Landfill: Policy Ideas for States and Localities, a resource that provides detailed information on how states and local governments can contribute to local food waste reduction. This report applies and refines Keeping Food Out of the Landfill to provide information and recommendations specific to Pennsylvania. The bulk of this text is comprised of ideas and recommendations that emerged from conversations with food waste experts and stakeholders from around the state, but the report also references information and examples from other states. This report covers the following seven policy areas: tax incentives, liability protections, date labels, food safety, school food waste, organic waste bans and waste recycling laws, and government support.
Pennsylvania stakeholders can use the information in this report to determine key policy priorities to further reduce the amount of food wasted in the Commonwealth. The recommendations in this report could be implemented individually or in tandem or could be combined together into comprehensive state food waste legislation. They could also be pursued in stages, with short-term and long-term goals. This report merely begins the process of identifying a range of opportunities, among which Pennsylvania stakeholders can prioritize.
