"California Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 954 into law on Oct. 14. This bill is designed to encourage a voluntary shift to standardized date labeling language among manufacturers, with state educational support. Clarifying the difference between a "quality date" and a "safety date" is anticipated to reduce some of the 5.5 million tons of food going to California landfills each year." (Rosengren, wastedive.com)

This bill will help immensely with food donation centers such as Golden Gleaners and CAPK. It is now in our hands to make a difference and reduce food waste by sending less edible food to the landfills.

AB 954 could be seen as beneficial to meeting California's goal of achieving a 20% food recovery rate by 2025, and the broader goal of a 75% recycling rate by 2020.

Food insecurity affects 1 in 6 Californians, including 1 in 4 children, and at the same time 40% of food available in the U.S. is never eaten, and in California, food makes up the largest portion of total waste sent to landfills. According to a survey by the Food Waste Reduction alliance, forty-four percent of manufacturers, forty-one percent of restaurants and twenty-five percent of retailers identified fear of liability as their primary barrier to food donation. By more explicitly stating the types of food donations that are protected under the California Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, business will better understand how they can safely donate food to those affected by hunger in their own communities.

Information provided by www.wastedive.com