Reducing Food Insecurity by Diverting Food from Landfills: Insights from an Optimization Model

• In Event: SUSTAINABILITY and CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: Food Waste and Food Security

Abstract

More than 1 billion tons of food is thrown away each year — most of it into landfills, where it generates vast amounts of greenhouse gases. At the same time, experts estimate that 13.5 million households in the U.S. alone experience some form of food insecurity. Can this gap be bridged? We present an optimization model to balance the trade-offs between donation and landfill. Insights from the model point to ways that policy makers can incentivize businesses to divert food from landfills and alleviate food insecurity.

Author

• Thomas Sloan, University of Massachusetts - Lowell