St. Paul launches new six-week Food Waste Challenge to residents

Limp lettuce. Moldy meat. Expired eggs.

The city of St. Paul wants residents to think twice about all the food they throw out.

Starting this week, officials are issuing a six-week Food Waste Challenge, asking dozens of households to voluntarily record the uneaten chow they discard, then let the city know the results.

The program is designed to draw awareness to the impacts of wasting food, including food insecurity and environmental concerns.

Participants will be asked to put their food waste into a bucket and weigh it. During the first week, they will maintain normal habits to provide a baseline. As the weeks go on, they will be given tips and asked to write down what tools they are using in their efforts to throw out less, including using more of the food they buy or grow, and buying less food in the first place.

The challenge is based on a similar Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) program, according to city program coordinator Sarah Haas.

Haas said the program will help the city collect some data on how much food St. Paul families are wasting, but she believes it will benefit participants as well.

"It also helps them understand when you're measuring and looking at your food waste each week, you start talking about it. With your friends you're like, 'Wow I can't believe I'm wasting this much food,' " Haas said. "We're really trying to shift the mind-set of food as 'oh this is a rotten banana let's throw it out' to 'this is a valuable resource.' This is the first step in developing that conversation with residents."

More than 90 households have signed up. Each will be sent information on how to reduce food waste as the program moves along, including handouts, videos, and tools to use in their kitchen. Those materials will also be posted to social media accounts for anyone interested in learning more.

Program participant Katie Iverson said that since her kids have grown up and moved out, she and her husband have gone through a food adjustment period because there are fewer people around to help empty the refrigerator. Measuring food waste now has proved "embarrassing," she said. "But that's part of why you want to go into it because you know you have room to improve."

Katy Schultz signed up for the program after hearing about it in an e-mail. She said she and her two roommates have been somewhat careful about food waste already. They started using composting kits offered for free by Ramsey County over six months ago and have tried to use up the food they buy. But Schultz said there is still room to improve.

"When I think about this project, I think our household is a good match because the tips might come in handy across the board and minimize the waste that we're putting out," Schultz said.

She added: "I'm hoping that [the city] can get some good takeaways from this pilot project and hopefully spread the word."

Haas said residents will be able to lower their food waste by following strategies like prepping portion sizes and creating more intentional shopping lists.

Participants will also be entered into a random drawing each week of the program, with a chance to win such items as reusable freezer bags, storage containers and cookbooks.

Haas said the program will be funded using part of a $76,000 state grant disbursed through Ramsey County for waste prevention and management programs.

According to the EPA, food waste is the largest contributor to landfills, and landfills account for 20% of methane emissions in the United States.

St. Paul residents can sign up to participate in the food waste tracking program on the city's website until the end of the week.