Food Recovery Act of 2015

Food Recovery Act of 2015

This bill amends the following to provide funding, expand tax deductions, and establish requirements to reduce food waste: the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act; the Internal Revenue Code; the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; the Solid Waste Disposal Act; and several agricultural laws.

The bill expands and establishes federal grant and loan programs to:

• improve the nutritional health of children and raise awareness about food waste,
• improve cooperation between agricultural producers and emergency feeding organizations,
• assist schools in using food from farms that would otherwise go to waste and providing farms with compostable materials, and
• install facilities that include composting or anaerobic digesters that use food or crop waste to produce energy.

Recipients of grants to install anaerobic digesters that use waste to produce energy must meet specified requirements regarding environmental laws and the distribution of certain food to hunger-serving organizations.

USDA must: (1) establish an Office of Food Recovery to coordinate federal programs to measure and reduce food waste, and (2) study techniques for decreasing food waste and estimating the amount of food wasted by farms.

The bill provides that composting is a conservation practice eligible for support under USDA's conservation programs.

The bill extends and expands tax deductions for the donation of food to charitable organizations.

"Sell-by" dates included on food labeling must indicate that the dates are only the manufacturer's suggestion and use uniform language.

Companies that receive food service contracts with the federal government must donate surplus food to nonprofit organizations that assist food-insecure people.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov