15 institutions reduce food waste by 42% during Smart Kitchens San Diego pilot
Results from the two-year pilot of Smart Kitchens San Diego
In April of 2018, the San Diego Food System Alliance launched the Smart Kitchens San Diego (SKSD) pilot program, which set out to reduce food waste in San Diego County by providing technical assistance in source reduction and food recovery for large institutions across the region.
We are proud to report that over the course of the two-year CalRecycle grant, the fifteen institutions participating in this pilot program have collectively reduced their food waste by 42%!
Additionally, over 170,000 meals were rescued and redistributed through the incredible work of local food recovery agencies, including Heaven’s Windows, People Assisting the Homeless, and The Foundry Food Pantry.
The 15 institutions that participated in Smart Kitchens San Diego's pilot program have collectively reduced their food waste by 42%.
By cultivating lasting, cross-sector partnerships, and combining source reduction and food donation solutions, the Smart Kitchens San Diego pilot program has diverted over 337,000 pounds of food waste from landfill. The program has the potential to divert nearly two million additional pounds of food waste in the next six years.
15 participating institutions
Through Smart Kitchens San Diego, over 170,000 meals were rescued and redistributed, and over 337,000 pounds of food waste was diverted from landfill.
Lessons learned
What did the Alliance learn while managing the Smart Kitchens San Diego pilot program? Too much to include in just one blog post!
We encourage you to read our Case Study and register for our upcoming webinar on September 9 if you are interested in digging deeper. We hope to “see” you then!
The Alliance is incredibly grateful to the hundreds of kitchen staff members who added food waste tracking to their daily responsibilities and to the many food recovery agency staff members and volunteers who rescued and redistributed the food donations.
We’d also like to thank CalRecycle and California Climate Investments for their generous funding of the Smart Kitchens San Diego program through the Food Waste Prevention and Rescue Grant Program.
The Smart Kitchens San Diego pilot program was funded by a grant from the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) through California Climate Investments.