WASHINGTON, D.C.—The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) announced that it has joined the U.S. Food Waste Pact, a joint initiative led by ReFED and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to reduce food waste across the food system. AHLA joins 29 other food businesses and organizations signing onto the Pact’s voluntary agreement, which utilizes the “Target, Measure, Act” framework to facilitate industry collaboration and action to reduce food waste across the food system.
According to ReFED, 29 percent of food produced in the United States goes uneaten or unsold, with the vast majority becoming waste that gets sent to destinations like landfills, incinerators, and sewer systems. The foodservice sector accounts for 12.5 million tons of this surplus food, with the surplus from the lodging subsector making up nearly 10 percent. In lodging alone, that amount of food is equivalent to two billion meals and valued at $17 billion, giving hospitality companies the opportunity to save food and money through waste reduction efforts.
“The U.S. Food Waste Pact’s mission is critical to reducing food waste and supporting communities across this country who face food insecurity,” said Lauren Pravlik, AHLA vice president of committees & member engagement and advisory council member for the U.S. Food Waste Pact. “Reducing food waste is an important part of ensuring hotels address sustainability while also ensuring that food reaches families, not landfills. We are proud of our industry’s food waste reduction programs like Hotel Kitchen—a complimentary resource for the hotel industry to educate teams on ways to prevent, divert, and donate excess food—and are excited to join many other industries who have made this commitment.”
In 2017, AHLA and WWF launched the Hotel Kitchen program, which provides educational training and resources on food waste reduction for the hospitality industry. As part of the work to generate the materials, AHLA and WWF led research and a series of workshops focused on innovative strategies to cut down on food waste in hotel kitchens—and participating hotels saw reductions of up to 38 percent in 12 weeks. AHLA has supported several federal bills that support food waste reduction efforts, including the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, the Food Date Labeling Act, and the Zero Food Waste Act.
“It’s great to officially welcome AHLA to the U.S. Food Waste Pact,” said Jackie Suggitt, vice president of business initiatives and community engagement at ReFED. “They have been a leader on food waste reduction, not just in the hospitality industry, but across the food system. Their work has helped guide our recent pilot that aimed to reduce food waste at events, and we are eager to have them share best practices with the rest of our signatory base.”
