Fighting food waste in Hotels
In the US, it is estimated that 63 million tons of food are wasted each year, with 40% coming from consumer-facing business, including hotels. Wasted food may generate as much as 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, be responsible for more than a quarter of all deforestation, and use nearly a quarter of all global water resources. Hence, reducing food waste is one of the easiest and most effective ways to reduce the environmental impact of our global food system and increase food availability both for the food insecure and a growing population without expanding agricultural production.
To help the hospitality industry do its part in fighting food waste and helping local communities meet the needs of the food insecure, the WWF and the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA), with support from The Rockefeller Foundation, created this toolkit to challenge the industry to PREVENT food waste, DONATE what cannot be prevented and DIVERT what remains. This toolkit is a step-by-step guide to developing a food management strategy at hotel level, that will prevent excess food production, help establish donation partners, and set up an organics recovery program that diverts any remaining food from landfill.