The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced its 2015 Food Recovery Challenge winners, the noncommercial foodservice facilities that were best within their segment at diverting food from the waste stream.
The competition recognizes operators in two award categories: Data Driven, a competition based on the percent of decline in a facility’s food waste; and Narrative, where the winners are selected on the basis of such factors as innovation, outreach, education and leadership.
FRC participants saved nearly 606,000 tons of wasted food from landfills or incinerators in 2014, of which about 88,600 tons were donated to people in need, EPA officials said in a statement.
“These reductions were accomplished through a variety of innovative actions including creative re-use of trimmings by university dining staff; donating excess, wholesome food to food banks, shelters, and soup kitchens; composting in urban settings; and using wasted food to produce electricity,” EPA spokeswoman Christie St. Clair said.
The national data-driven winners are:
Colleges and Universities: Salem State University
K-12 Schools: Pearl City High School
Hospitality: Ortega National Parks, LLC—White Sands Trading Company
Restaurants and Food Service Providers: Serendipity Catering
Sports and Entertainment Venues: SAVOR…Chicago-McCormick Place South
Other Organization: Orange County Sheriff’s Department—Theo Lacy Facility
The narrative categories winners are:
Source Reduction Winner: University of California at Santa Cruz
Leadership Winner: MB Financial Park at Rosemont/Village of Rosemont
Innovation Winner: Crystal Creamery
Education and Outreach Winner: Keene State College
Endorser Winner: Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
Innovation Honorable Mention: City of Philadelphia—Philadelphia Prison System
Source Reduction Honorable Mention: Clark Univer