Hello students and teachers!

Welcome to the Food Too Good to Waste education resource page. There is so much to learn here that we’ve broken it down in several ways for you.

Key Search Terms for Research

• Food scrap diversion

• Food Bank Association ➚

• Food Recovery Hierarchy

• Donating edible food

• Feeding animals with human food scraps

• Turning waste food into energy

• Making compost with food scraps

• Commercial composting food waste

• Large-scale food waste composting ➚

• Composting industrial wastes

• Food Waste in the Landfill

EPA Implementation Guide & Toolkit

“Food Too Good to Waste” (FTGTW) is also the name of a toolkit that the EPA developed to help tackle the problem of reducing food waste. Their implementation guide is intended for community organizations and local governments or any organization interested in reducing wasted food from households.

Learn More:
CEC Food Matters Action Kit ➚
EPA FTGTW Implementation Guide and Toolkit ➚

The Food Waste Pyramid

Feeding people is always the top priority. Unfortunately, large amounts of good food never make it to the table.  Feeding animals is the next best thing to do with our food. Making compost is something that can be done with little effort in the back yard, in community gardens and on small farms. It takes very little equipment and can be used near where it is made. Making power takes big machines and millions of dollars to get started. It is unavailable to many smaller cities and towns. Landfilling is the last resort. We know that we are creating a long-term pollution problem from the food that is being buried in our landfills now and in the past.

Learn More:
The EPA Food Recovery Hierarchy ➚
EPA Food Waste Pyramid ➚

The Institute for Local Self Reliance also has a Food Waste Hierarchy which emphasizes composting and building communities.  While industrial uses can be important, there are many ways to use food scraps locally without a big investment. Building an anaerobic digester to produce natural gas is a very expensive step. Using that gas to generate electricity requires another set of expensive equipment. In short, there are many better options for rural homes, and residents of small to medium-sized towns than building an anaerobic digester.

Learn More:
Institute for Local Self Reliance website ➚
ILSR.org/composting ➚
Roadmap for Food Waste Recovery ➚

Classroom Activities and Curricula

• Missouri Organic’s Food Too Good to Waste Science Unit ➚

  • Designed for grades 4-12

• CEC Food Matters Action Kit ➚

  • Very valuable resource - highly rated!

• World Wildlife Fund ➚

  • Great resource from World Wildlife Fund for 4th grade and up.

• 17 Resources for Teaching About Food Waste - A Complete Resource ➚

  • Facts, videos, articles and reports, websites and blogs, activities.

• ReFed.com ➚

  • ReFed is a comprehensive source of information on all aspects of our food system problems and opportunities.

• Tools for Preventing and Diverting Wasted Food ➚

  • Broad EPA resource with lots on tables and charts.

• NRDC Food Waste Report ➚

  • Truly great resource!

• Guide to Grocery Shopping on a Budget + DIY Food Waste Log ➚

  • Excellent resource for printable charts.

Videos