Food Recovery

New - Request for Proposals from Subawardees, Submittal Deadline March 25, 2021 

The Pollution Prevention Institute, or PPI received a grant award from EPA's Environmental Education Program that provides five subawards of $5,000 each to interested project partners. The focus of this project is to promote food waste prevention, food recovery education for students and the public, and to reduce food waste to landfills. The project region is the 16 counties of southeast Kansas.

To be a subawardee, please read the Request for Narrative Proposals and submit a narrative and the subrecipient commitment form before March 25, 2021 to Lynelle Ladd, lladd@ksu.edu and Nancy Larson, nlarson@ksu.edu. 

According to EPA, each year the United States wastes nearly 31% of its overall food supply, with food waste making up approximately 15.2 percent of what goes into our landfills. Dating back to 2012, the Pollution Prevention Institute, or PPI, has worked with various industrial, institutional and community programs assisting entities with food waste prevention or diversion to hungry populations.  Check out the food recovery resources, including tools and case studies below. PPI also assists clients with other waste management and waste minimization questions. PPI is an EPA Food Recovery Challenge Endorser and encourages community and industry partners to check out EPA's food Recovery Challenge and sign up as a partner. Need help or have questions?  Contact PPI or call PPI at 800-78-8898.

Resources for reducing food waste

PPI has developed several resources as a result of projects involving work with schools, colleges and industry.
Check out our downloadable resources, including case studies, tools and guidance, along with helpful national resources.

Resources for train-the-trainer workshops

These USDA-sponsored 2018 workshops were hosted in various Kansas communities for food policy members, extension, and other community and health practitioners. An EPA toolkit called “Food too good to waste,” was the basis for these events. Please feel free to use any of these helpful resources.

Food: Too Good To Waste

• Workshop Presentation
• EPA Tool - Get Smart: take the challenge
• EPA Tool - Smart Shopping: shop with meals in mind
• EPA Tool - Smart Storage: fruit and vegetables storage guide
• EPA Tool - Smart Prep: prep now, eat later
• EPA Tool - Smart Saving: Eat First! sign
• EPA Tool - Poster: What's up with all the wasted food?
• EPA Tool - Presentation: Food: Too Good to Waste
• Good Samaritan Act
• Food Product Dating KSRE MF 3204
• Storage tip sheet for residents from vermont

Strategic Communication​

• Workshop Presentation
• Worksheet: Charting target audiences
• Worksheet: Message wheel
• Building Successful Alliances and Partnerships
• 9 key Considerations to Influence Behavior for Action
• Healthy Food Financing Intiative Toolkit

Food recovery challenge

The food recovery challenge or FRC is a voluntary program hosted by EPA. It helps businesses, agencies and other organizations set food recovery goals and gain publicity and recognition for their work. So check the FRC and join PPI by becoming a FRC partner today!

Map of Food Diversion Facilities

This page was updated in late 2018 and may be helpful identifying facilities in various counties where excess and wholesome food can be donated. PPI recommends contacting the facility with details about the donation before delivering it.

Are you aware of facilities in your area of Kansas such as food pantries, animal feed operations, biodigesters, or composting facilities that accept food-related materials? Email or call 800-578-8898 to add such locations to the state map.