Spoiler Alert Blog | Food Waste

   

A Year in Food Waste: 2016 Reflections

Hannah Geise
Hannah Geise

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The holiday season is always a time of reflection, and as we continue into Spoiler Alert’s second year of business, it’s helpful to think about the progress being made in food waste reduction locally, nationally, and globally.

Last year, we recapped the top 12 food waste stories from 2015. This year, we’re exploring the top stories on a month-by-month breakdown. From ugly produce’s appearance on Shark Tank, to the release of the ReFED report, to the first ad campaign directed at a consumer audience, it’s clear that food waste is only becoming more top-of-mind for those in the food industry and the general public.

Here are some of our favorite stories in food waste from 2016. Enjoy!

January

February

  • Spoiler Alert is one of fourteen companies accepted into the spring cohort of Techstars Boston, one of the leading startup accelerator programs in the world.
  • Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic releases a short documentary on how misleading date labels on food products (such as “best by” and “sell by” dates contribute to food waste in America.

March

Graphic from ReFED showing impacts of food waste

April

May

  • Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree and Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal introduce the Food Date Labeling Act in an effort to standardize date labels such as “use by,” “sell by,” and “best by.”

June

display on breakfast table encouraging patrons not to waste food

Emily Malina speaks on a panel about food waste at the Maine Startup and Create week

July

  • Spoiler Alert publishes a new resource — A Beginner’s Guide to Food Waste. The guide is intended to be an overview of the current food waste landscape. It can serve as a primer for those looking for a quick guide to government calls to action, legislation, and online awareness campaigns.

Cover of A Beginner's Guide to Food Waste

August

September

October 

Spoiler Alert CEO Ricky Ashenfelter presents at Forbes

November

December

  • Spoiler Alert hosts the “12 Days of Food Rescue” social media campaign on Facebook and Twitter to highlight twelve notable transactions from the platform.

collection of recovered produce

Our team wishes everyone a safe and happy holiday season. We look forward to great things to come in 2017!

 

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