SENATE RESOLUTION No. 110

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED DECEMBER 4, 1997

By Senators CIESLA, PALAIA and Bennett

A Senate Resolution urging the United States Congress to support the FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties' food recovery project.

Whereas, Large quantities of wholesome, edible food are lost at every stage of the marketing system. According to a report released by the United States Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service, 96 billion pounds of food, or 27 percent of the 356 billion pounds of edible food available for human consumption in the United States, were lost to human use in 1995; and

Whereas, Examples of such losses include meats, bread, dairy products, and other foods prepared by a restaurant or caterer, but never served, and the discard of blemished or overripe produce, which may be unmarketable for cosmetic reasons, but are otherwise nutritious and safe. If five percent of the 96 billion pounds were recovered, that quantity would represent the equivalent of a day's food for about four million people; and

Whereas, In 1996, the United States Department of Agriculture spent almost $38 billion dollars providing food assistance to an estimated 45 million people, about 1 in 6 Americans. In addition, local agencies and nonprofit organizations, which include food banks, provided more than 10 percent of the U.S. population with a portion of their food needs. Yet even with a network of federal and local food assistance programs, almost 20 percent of requests for emergency food assistance went unmet; and

Whereas, Food recovery programs help in providing additional quantities of food to hungry people and provide food banks with the ability to offer their clients more variety and nutrients in their diets by adding fresh fruits and vegetables and grain products to the usual food bank fare of canned and boxed foods The programs also reduce waste removal fees for supermarkets and food establishments. It has been estimated that if 5 percent of food service, retail and consumer losses were recovered rather than discarded, 50 million dollars could be saved annually in solid waste disposal costs for landfills; and

Whereas, The growing concern about hunger, resource conservation     and the environmental and economic costs associated with food     waste has raised public awareness of food loss which, in turn, has     motivated public and private entities to develop ways in which to     make better use of available food supplies by recovering safe and     nutritious food that would otherwise be wasted; and

Whereas, The FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties is developing a project which would address the issues of food loss and recovery by analyzing the amount of food that is "wasted" in the State and where the wasted food exists, identifying and quantifying the need for emergency food assistance, identifying the current and projected needs for food in the State, and developing a fiscally sound plan to secure, transport and distribute the recovered food to food banks and other emergency feeding programs throughout New Jersey; now, therefore,

    Be It resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey:

    1. The Congress of the United States is urged to support the FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties' food recovery project which would study ways in which to recover wasted food and distribute it to emergency feeding programs throughout the State of New Jersey.

    2. A copy of this resolution signed by the President of the Senate and attested by the Secretary of the Senate, shall be transmitted to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Governor of the State of New Jersey and every member of the New Jersey Congressional delegation.

STATEMENT

    This resolution urges the Congress of the United States to support the FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties' food recovery project.

Urges Congress to support FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties' food recovery project.