Food Safety for Food Donations

The Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC), The Global FoodBanking Network (GFN), Food Systems for the Future, and the United Nations Environment Programme are pleased to continue their web conference series on law and policy to address food waste, food recovery, and donation. The series is part of The Global Food Donation Policy Atlas, produced by FLPC and GFN to explore legal and regulatory barriers to food donation, as well as opportunities for law and policy to drive donation of safe, surplus food, and share best practices for consideration for countries involved in the project and beyond.

In many countries, a key barrier to the donation of surplus food is the lack of knowledge or readily available guidance regarding safety procedures for food donation. Potential donors are often uncertain as to which food safety regulations apply to donated food, as opposed to purchased food, as well as the steps necessary to safely donate food in compliance with applicable regulations. As a result, safe, surplus food that could have been redirected to populations in need is instead destined for landfills. In this webinar, we will discuss obstacles, opportunities, and best practices for food safety as it relates to food donation around the world.

Moderator: 

• Ertharin Cousin: CEO and Founder of Food Systems for the Future; Visiting Scholar at the Stanford University Center on Food Security and Environment in the Freeman Spogli Institute; former Executive Director, United Nations World Food Programme; former US Ambassador to the UN Agencies for Food and Agriculture

Speakers include:

• Cristina Lisetchi, Policy Officer, Farm to Fork Strategy, Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, European Commission.
• Kris De Smet, Head of Team Food Hygiene, Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, European Commission.
• Dr. Heena Yadav, Technical Officer, Regulatory Compliance Division, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
• Melissa Hammar, Acting Director, Regulations Development Staff, Office of Policy and Program Development, Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.
• Ian Bowles, Business Change & Collaboration Consultant, The Waste & Resources Action Programme – WRAP UK.

A full list of speakers will be circulated to attendees prior to the session.

This event is by invitation only. Attendees will be sent information and materials prior to this session.

If you have any questions, please contact contact Regan Plekenpol at rplekenpol@law.harvard.edu.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Global Food Donation Policy Atlas was made possible through funding by the Walmart Foundation. The findings, conclusions, and recommendations presented from this project are those of the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic and The Global FoodBanking Network alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Walmart Foundation.