ABSTRACT
Excessive food loss and waste (FLW) is a pressing challenge facing global food systems. FLW occurs at every stage of the supply chain and generates significant social, environmental, and economic costs. International estimates predict that more than one-third – or 1.3 billion tons – of food produced is lost or wasted along the supply chain. At the same time, current data indicate that between 720 and 811 million people were hungry in 2020 and that more than 2 billion people were unable to regularly access safe, nutritious food in 2019. Thoughtful public policies can help address these troubling trends and augment food system resilience, aiding in food recovery for social benefit and mitigating the environmental cost of excess production and loss.
Food donation offers a solution to these parallel issues. Redirecting safe, surplus food to those who need it most both decreases FLW and increases food security. However, scaling food donation requires aligned incentives that motivate individuals and companies to donate rather than discard surplus food. A major concern for donors is that they will be found liable if a recipient becomes sick after consuming donated food. Many countries do not provide any liability protections for food donors or food recovery organizations, or they have unclear or fragmented policies to address this issue. In some cases, countries protect food donors but not food recovery organizations, meaning these charitable organizations must take on even more risk to provide a social good. Even in countries where protection does exist, donors and food recovery organizations are often uncertain about the level of fault at which they may lose liability protection for food donations. Lack of comprehensive or clear protections means that often donors discard safe, edible, surplus food instead of ensuring it reaches those in need. This issue brief informs governments and policymakers of best practices for adopting comprehensive liability protection laws to address these challenges; promote the donation of safe, surplus food; reduce food waste; and eliminate food insecurity.
This issue brief was developed as part of The Global Food Donation Policy Atlas project, a partnership between the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC) and The Global FoodBanking Network (GFN) that aims to promote strong food donation policies as global solutions to hunger and FLW. Across key issue areas – including food safety, date labeling, liability protection, tax incentives and barriers, donation requirements or food waste penalties, and government grants and incentives – restrictive or inadequate laws and policies can undermine the efforts of food recovery organizations and create obstacles for businesses and other private-sector actors seeking to donate food. Such laws may also fail to properly incentivize socially beneficial behaviors. The Atlas project analyzes and compares these national laws and offers tailored recommendations to clarify and optimize the policy landscape for food donation.
Akwii, Esther and Broad Leib, Emily and Shapiro, Melissa and Paparo, Regina, Promoting Food Donation: Liability Protection Law and Policy (December 1, 2021).
Leave a Reply