About the policy finder

Public policy can offer opportunities to accelerate large-scale food waste reduction. In the U.S., policy related to food waste exists at the federal, state, and local levels, though the characteristics of these policies and the extent to which they promote or impede food waste reduction vary significantly — whether they incentivize good practices, penalize bad behavior, or clarify what activities are allowed.

ReFED and the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic collaborated to develop the Food Waste Policy Finder in order to provide an overview of current federal and state policies related to food waste. The tool is intended to depict the existing policy landscape while highlighting best-practice legislation in order to promote the continued development and implementation of sound food waste policy.

The tool presents policies within the food waste hierarchy framework (prioritizing food waste prevention, followed by food recovery for humans, and finally recycling solutions). Policy areas currently featured in the tool include: date labeling regulations, donation liability protections, donation tax incentives, animal feed regulations, and organic waste bans and waste recycling laws.

Given the widespread support for food waste solutions, we anticipate the ongoing creation of new policy, and will continue to update this tool accordingly. We also plan to add additional features in the future. Please contact us at [email protected] if you notice any outdated state laws, know of any policies we haven’t yet added to the site, or have ideas for additional features that would be useful to you.