City invites residents to join the #AVLFoodWasteChallenge

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    ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — It’s estimated that tens of thousands of pounds of food are thrown away every year in Asheville. So, the city of Asheville has initiated a challenge to cut down on food waste.

Earlier this week, the city declared April Food Waste Reduction Month. In an effort to raise awareness, city officials are asking people to take pictures of their food waste at work, at home or in public and post the photos to social media with the hashtag #AVLFoodWasteChallenge to be entered to win prizes from local businesses. Photos can also include compost, freezers stocked with food to keep it from spoiling, organized refrigerators, meal plans, “kitchen sink” stir fry meals or other ways you reduce and reuse food in your life.

There are many reasons good food becomes food waste: food that is purchased but forgotten and left to spoil, food prepared at a restaurant, retailer or at home but is not consumed, and food grown at the farm but spoiled or wasted in transit. Importantly, much of our food waste is preventable, and options exist for edible food redistribution or inedible food recycling.

An estimated 57,500 tons of food waste is generated in Buncombe County each year, which accounts for about a quarter of commercial and residential landfill waste. Across the whole food supply chain, America tosses more than 400 pounds of food per person per year for a total cost of $218 billion.

Follow the city’s Food Waste Reduction Initiative on the city’s website.

Find more information at savethefood.com.

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