Let’s Taco ‘Bout a Sustainable Food System
by Sonam Velani and Kathy Zhang
Credit: Hawk Krall for Vice
The food system, including agriculture, processing, refrigeration, transport, and waste disposal, contributes approximately one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions and significant impacts on land use & biodiversity. The problem is compounded by the too frequent farm-to-garbage pipeline for residents and businesses. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) estimates that in NYC, two-thirds of food people throw away in their homes was potentially edible!
Credit: NRDC food waste report
Given the enormity of this challenge in building more healthy, equitable and sustainable food systems, read on a few of NYC’s local interventions promoting circularity in our food system:
Locally & sustainable sourced
GrowNYC’s New York State Regional Food Hub: Opening in 2023, NYC’s new food hub will connect small and mid-sized farms around NYC to provide fresh produce to the city’s schools, hospitals, and nonprofits.
Hunts Point Energy Resiliency project: Over half of NYC’s produce, meat and fish pass through just a single distribution center in the Bronx. With support from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), NYC is investing over $70M to bolster infrastructure and social resilience in Hunts Point, with renewable energy generation & storage, emergency response infrastructure, and economic opportunities.
GrowNYC School Gardens: Created in 2010, this program helped to create over 900 school gardens in NYC schools to help promote environmental education and healthy eating habits.
Credit: GrowNYC
GrowNYC Teaching Garden at Governors Island opens to visitors in May! Vegetables, fruits, and herbs here are donated to a food pantry in Brownsville and East New York.
Plant-based
Plant-based meals: Livestock & fisheries account for a significant portion of food emissions. In the latest Food Metric Report, NYC’s Director of the Office of Food Policy highlighted the city’s recent efforts which have “introduced expanded and improved plant-powered options in all public schools; made plant-based meals the default in our public hospitals; reimagined the City’s emergency food distribution program based on community feedback to include fresh produce for the first time in its history.”
Rescuing food
NY State Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Law. Passed in 2019, this state law came into effect starting January 1, 2022, and requires large food waste generators to donate excess food and recycle remaining food scraps. In just the first 10 months of 2022, this regulation helped to divert 1.6 million pounds of food, though proximity to organics recycling facilities remains a massive operational constraint limiting recycling.
donateNYC. Along with established nonprofits like City Harvest, donateNYC Food Portal connects businesses and nonprofits with excess food to NYC organizations that can use or redistribute it.
Recycling food scraps
Convenient composting. The city currently operates over 200 food scrap drop-off sites in NYC. The NYC Curbside Composting program, which collects food waste from households and converts it into compost or renewable energy, is already available in parts of the city and slated to expand to all residents by the end of 2024.
Additional deep dive resources:
Food Forward NYC: A 10-Year Food Policy Plan & 2022 Food Metrics Report (NYC Food Policy)
Policy briefs for a healthier, more just, and sustainable food system (CUNY School of Public Health, Hunter College & Columbia University Teachers College)
New York State Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Law Impact Report (New York Department of Environmental Conservation)
by Sonam Velani and Kathy Zhang