The NO TIME TO Waste Act directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture to tackle the problem of food loss and waste across the country. Food loss happens when food doesn't reach consumers due to problems during production, storage, processing, or distribution—think crops that spoil in the field or get damaged during transport. Food waste refers to food that's meant for people to eat but goes unconsumed at stores or in homes for any reason.

The bill requires the USDA to work together with the FDA and EPA to coordinate federal efforts to reduce food loss and waste. To make this happen, the USDA must create a new Office of Food Loss and Waste that will run several grant programs. One program will help states and local governments collect data on their current food waste policies so the federal government can develop model policies others can follow. Another program will give grants directly to states and tribes to build food recovery infrastructure and develop new ways to distribute food more efficiently. A third program will offer grants to encourage state and local governments to partner with private businesses in committing to cut food loss and waste in half by 2030.

Beyond the grant programs, the Office of Food Loss and Waste will also launch a national education and awareness campaign to help Americans understand the problem and what they can do about it. Overall, this bill aims to create a coordinated, multi-level approach to reducing the enormous amount of food that currently goes to waste in America.

NO TIME TO Waste Act

Pingree, Chellie

New Opportunities for Technological Innovation, Mitigation, and Education To Overcome Waste Act or the NO TIME TO Waste ActThis bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to take several actions to reduce U.S. food loss and waste (FLW).Under the bill, food loss means the food that does not reach a consumer as a result of an issue in the production, storage, processing, or distribution phase. Food waste means that food intended for human consumption is unconsumed for any reason at the retail or consumption phase.The bill requires USDA to collaborate with the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency to carry out&nbsp;a December, 17, 2020, agreement to coordinate federal efforts to cut FLW.Further,&nbsp;USDA must establish an Office of Food Loss and Waste to support the existing role of the Food Loss and Waste Liaison. The office must also, among other things, establish<ul><li>a grant program to support collecting data on existing state and local FLW policies (and the office must use the data to establish model policies for state and local governments);</li><li>a block grant program for states and Indian tribes to develop and support food recovery infrastructure and innovative food distribution models; and</li><li>a grant program to incentivize state, municipal, local, and tribal governments to establish public-private partnerships that commit to reducing FLW by 50% by 2030.</li></ul>The Office of Food Loss and Waste must also initiate a national FLW education and public awareness campaign.