Sunnyvale Ramps up Food Recovery in Second Year of County Program

In its second year, Sunnyvale increased the amount of food waste it diverted from the landfill into the hands of the people who need it most.

Sunnyvale continues to participate in a countywide food recovery program aimed at meeting state mandates to reduce organic waste.

The law, SB 1383, requires a 20% reduction in food waste statewide by 2025.

Now in its second year of participation, Sunnyvale is already meeting that goal, said Shikha Gupta, Sunnyvale’s solid waste programs division manager. She called the program a “regional effort.”

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“Our focus is to meet the intent of the law,” Gupta said. “The ultimate and intent of the law is to keep things out of the landfill.”

The program collects surplus food that is still edible and distributes it to the poor.

The effort is a partnership between food sellers, government agencies and food-recovery distributors.

Sellers are broken down into two tiers. The first tier is large-scale food vendors like grocery stores. The second is made up of smaller operations such as restaurants and cafeterias.

Those vendors coordinate with city officials to get their uneaten food into the hands of food-recovery organizations. Then, those organizations get it into the hands — or in this case mouths — of people who need it most.

Shikha said the first year was a learning experience, getting everything dialed in. Despite some minor glitches, the program is going smoothly in its second year.

Last year, Sunnyvale recovered 568,027 pounds of uneaten food. This year, it collected 651,316 pounds. City costs are offset by CalRecycle grants.

By providing technical expertise, outreach and education through printed and electronic media and direct interactions, the city will continue to strive toward increasing the program’s effectiveness.

But Shikha said she realizes there is a limit to how efficient the program can be.

“We don’t really expect restaurants to recover everything they buy, and we don’t really expect food-recovery organizations to distribute everything they get,” she said.

Still, by being involved from the program’s outset, Sunnyvale is already ahead of the curve, pulling its weight in the statewide effort.

For more information on the program, visit the Santa Clara County website at: https://reducewaste.santaclaracounty.gov/food-recovery.