Giant supermarket, Keep PA Beautiful grant focuses on food waste prevention

Whether one is eating out or cooking in, Philadelphia’s reputation as a foodie town is growing.

But so too is its problem with food waste, which makes up about 25% of the city’s waste stream.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that $218 billion worth of food is trashed annually by grocery stores, restaurants, food service companies, or individuals at home, although much of it is still edible. This makes food the largest category of material in landfills. There, food waste emits methane, which is a greenhouse gas.

To raise awareness, the Giant Co. and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful announced their 2023 Healing the Planet grant will focus on decreasing food waste. According to Heidi Pedicone, director of programs of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, this is the third year for offering the grants. Pedicone said out of 300 applications, 82 projects have been selected and funded over the last two years for a total of $800,000.

“The money comes from people rounding up their purchases at the counter at Giant stores,” Pedicone said.

Currently, the average American throws away 1,600 pounds of garbage per year. After digging through people’s garbage, researchers discovered that coffee, milk, apples, bread, potatoes, and pasta were among the top 10 most-wasted, still-edible food items.

The United States spends more than $162 billion growing, processing, and transporting food that is never eaten. More than $1 billion worth of food is wasted in schools across the country annually. Supermarkets lose approximately $15 billion each year in unsold fruits and vegetables alone, according to the Department of Agriculture.

“As a grocer, we are tackling the issue of food waste in our operations every day,” said Jessica Groves, Giant’s community impact manager.

It has been estimated that recapturing 30% of our nation’s surplus food would provide enough to eliminate food insecurity.

Each year the Healing the Planet grant has had a different environmental theme. In 2021, it was about connecting families with green spaces. In 2022, it was the health of the watershed. Local organizations like the Academy of Natural Sciences, Our Lady of Hope Church, and the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education have been past recipients.

This year, the grant requires that programs address food-waste prevention, reduction or recovery through programs such as community composting or educational programming in Giant’s operating areas of Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia. Pedicone said she believes the 2023 grant will help bring increased attention to the benefits of composting, which reuses food scraps to enrich the soil.

The Healing the Planet grant will consider financial requests at only four funding levels: $2,500, $5,000, $10,000, or $20,000. Nonprofit groups interested in applying have until April 13 at 4 p.m. to complete the online application on the Keep PA Beautiful website. Awardees will be announced in June.