Executive Director Will Dittmar was interviewed by Local News Matters about the state of food recovery and how SB 1383 has affected what we do.
“We are all biologically wired to abhor waste — and that includes food waste,” said Dittmar, who also leads Extra Food, an organization that recovers food from across the San Francisco Bay Area. That instinct, he explained, is why food recovery has often garnered bipartisan support in the past. Under the Biden administration, funding avenues opened up for food recovery through the EPA’s Environmental and Climate Justice Program, created by the Inflation Reduction Act. But since Trump took office, those programs have been either frozen or terminated as part of a broader move away from climate and environmental justice by the administration.
“If California is going to lead the nation in climate, we have to continue to walk the talk,” Dittmar said, expressing faith in SB 1383 despite its shortcomings. “I am optimistic that we can show progress in the (food recovery) space.”