EPA’s Arizona Food Recovery Challenge Awardees Reducing Food Waste, Preventing Greenhouse Gases
February 3, 2022
Contact Information: Joshua Alexander (alexander.joshua@epa.gov)
415-214-5940
SAN FRANCISCO – Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized the achievements and innovations of two Arizona businesses that participated in EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge in 2020 and 2021.
“Reducing food waste represents an environmental and economic benefit for communities in our region,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. “The Food Recovery Challenge awardees in Arizona are leading the way, modeling how organizations across the state can address food insecurity, prevent methane emissions that contribute to climate change, and make cost-saving business decisions.”
“Working at Sprouts has given me a unique opportunity to interact with those serving some of the most vulnerable members of our local communities,” said Levi Young, Sprouts Receiving Manager. “We have volunteers pick up donations daily so we can get food directly to struggling families and their children, which is, in my opinion, one of the most impactful things you can do to directly serve your community. I’m proud to be able to take direct action to serve our local communities on behalf of Sprouts.”
The two Arizona awardees are Sprouts Famers Market locations. Sprouts Farmers Market has a robust Food Rescue Program where stores donate edible food, that is not in retail condition, to local food pantries and hunger relief agencies. Sprouts sends food that does not meet donation guidelines to local cattle farms or compost facilities. Sprouts uses meat rendering programs to process meat and seafood waste for more productive uses, and recycles the grease rendered from their roasted chicken program.
In 2019, the Maricopa Sprouts Farmers Market location achieved a 2100 percent increase in food waste diverted. In 2020, the Laveen Sprouts Farmers Market location achieved a 461 percent increase in food waste diverted.
Nearly 600 businesses, government agencies and organizations across the country participated in EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge in 2020-2021. Through the Challenge, EPA has worked with organizations and businesses for the past decade to set data-driven goals, implement targeted strategies to reduce wasted food in their operations, and report results to compete for recognition.
The 2020-2021 Arizona awardees:
Background
Each year in the United States, 73 to 152 million metric tons of food is lost or wasted during all stages of the food supply chain (from primary production to consumption), according to the EPA’s November 2021 report, From Farm to Kitchen: The Environmental Impacts of U.S. Food Waste. Food waste adversely impacts the economy, communities, and the environment by wasting the resources used to grow and transport it.
By addressing food waste, there is an opportunity to lower our carbon footprint and increase climate resilience, while also addressing inequities in food security and public health. In other words, there are environmental, economic, and environmental justice co-benefits. Preventing food waste and keeping food and other organics out of landfills mitigates climate change, as an estimated 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from wasted food. At the same time, uneaten food contains enough calories to feed more than 150 million people each year, far more than the 35 million estimated food insecure Americans.
For more information on the Food Recovery Challenge national and regional awardees, visit
https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-recovery-challenge-results-and-award-winners
For information on the national food loss and waste reduction goal, visit
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