Advocacy group Food Tank, which aims to eradicate hunger, poverty and obesity, has joined the energy-minded Farm Powered Strategic Alliance (FPSA).
The FPSA aims to eliminate food waste and repurpose food waste, which cannot be eliminated, into renewable energy using farm-based anaerobic digesters. The Alliance was founded in 2020 by Vanguard Renewables, Unilever, Starbucks, and Dairy Farmers of America.
Food Tank is the first NGO and non-food producer to have joined the FPSA.
Vanguard Renewables CEO Neil Smith said, “We follow the EPA’s Food Recovery Hierarchy, that food should feed the hungry first; our on-farm digesters recycle inedible food and beverage waste into renewable energy. A more sustainable food system nourishes people, the land, and the farmers, and it also sustains the supply chain. Food Tank and our other FPSA members are all working towards the same end - fighting food insecurity, keeping organic waste from landfills, and finding solutions to the ongoing climate crisis.”
Research firm RTS has estimated that Americans waste 40 billion million tons of food every year, compared to 1.4 billion tons worldwide.
Landfill mass, including food waste, produces vast amount of methane gas, is considered by environmental scientists as multiple times more dangerous as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
Food Tank President Danielle Nierenberg said, “Our organization is dedicated to growing and spotlighting the important work of alleviating hunger, obesity, and poverty around the world. Becoming a member of the FPSA is a natural alignment for our organization; we work in the same space with complementary approaches to a more sustainable food system. It’s important to note that although we focus on advocating for nutritious food for all, we understand that the United States sends more than 30% of its food waste to landfills. Diverting the inedible food waste to create renewable energy is an important step in reaching all of our climate change goals.”
The FPSA aims to expand renewable energy products in America and support family farms that have installed anaerobic digesters. Members can recycle food and beverage waste and combine it with farm manure in an anaerobic digester to produce renewable natural gas and a low-carbon fertilizer. The fertilizer can be used in regenerative agriculture practices and farmers can secure a diversified income source.
