Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM

Syracuse University and RIT Partner to Reduce Wasted Food

Sunday, March 20, 2022, By Alex Dunbar
Share
College of Engineering and Computer ScienceResearch and Creative

Syracuse University’s Center for Sustainable Community Solutions (CSCS) and the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute (NYSP2I) at the Rochester Institute of Technology are partnering on a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to assist communities and stakeholders in New York State with reducing the amount of edible food that goes to waste.

a display of vegetablesThe USDA estimates that approximately 35 percent of food produced in the U.S. goes uneaten, which according to the nonprofit Rethink Food Waste through Economics and Date (ReFED), incurs a nationwide annual cost of more than $400 billion. Wasted food is also a large contributor to global climate change and wastes significant amounts of freshwater, energy and other agricultural inputs. Perhaps most egregiously, the U.S. is wasting more than one-third of its food supply while Feeding America estimates that 1 in 9 Americans face hunger.

To help mitigate these issues, CSCS and NYSP2I are collaborating to develop a series of workshops, guidance materials and technical assistance opportunities for New York State community leaders, with a focus on rural areas. These community leaders and other stakeholders will receive guidance, training and support for the creation of local sustainable organics management plans.

Some aspects of the plans will include quantifying and characterizing local food loss, identifying opportunities for food loss reduction, establishing networks for edible food rescue, creating systems for food scraps collection and processing (e.g., composting), and more.

“We are thrilled to team up with NYSP2I to complement each other’s experience and knowledge in reducing wasted food,” says CSCS Assistant Director Melissa Young. “Our teams will work with communities to develop solutions for getting more edible food to hungry people and diverting more organic materials to be recycled into valuable soil amendment.”

This effort will help expand the benefits of The New York State Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Law, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2022, by providing additional support to stakeholders who may or may not be affected by the law. Currently, the law only pertains to certain entities that generate an annual average of two tons or more of food waste per week.

“Creating a better, more sustainable future for our rural communities takes teamwork, and collaboration with all of the stakeholders,” says NYSP2I Director Charles Ruffing. “NYSP2I is excited to join forces with these communities and CSCS to help reduce edible food waste across the Empire State.”

CSCS and NYSP2I will begin promoting the workshop series this spring with the goal of facilitating multiple training events throughout the summer. If you are interested in receiving updates about the workshop series, or learning more about this program, please contact SU-CSCS Program Manager Jesse Kerns, at jekerns@syr.edu.

  • Author

Alex Dunbar

  • Recent
  • First-Year Law Student to First-Year Dean: Lau Combines Law and Business to Continue College of Law’s Upward Trajectory
    Thursday, June 26, 2025, By Robert Conrad
  • Student Innovations Shine at 2025 Invent@SU Presentations
    Thursday, June 26, 2025, By Alex Dunbar
  • Iran Escalation: Experts Available This Week
    Tuesday, June 24, 2025, By Vanessa Marquette
  • SCOTUS Win for Combat Veterans Backed by Syracuse Law Clinic
    Monday, June 23, 2025, By Vanessa Marquette
  • Syracuse Views Summer 2025
    Monday, June 23, 2025, By News Staff

More In STEM

Student Innovations Shine at 2025 Invent@SU Presentations

Eight teams of engineering students presented designs for original devices to industry experts and investors at Invent@SU Final Presentations. This six-week summer program allows students to design, prototype and pitch their inventions to judges. During the program, students learn about…

WiSE Hosts the 2025 Norma Slepecky Memorial Lecture and Undergraduate Research Prize Award Ceremony

This spring, Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) held its annual Norma Slepecky Memorial Lecture and Award Ceremony. WiSE was honored to host distinguished guest speaker Joan-Emma Shea, who presented “Self-Assembly of the Tau Protein: Computational Insights Into Neurodegeneration.” Shea…

Endowed Professorship Recognizes Impact of a Professor, Mentor and Advisor

Bao-Ding “Bob” Cheng’s journey to Syracuse University in pursuit of graduate education in the 1960s was long and arduous. He didn’t have the means for air travel, so he voyaged more than 5,000 nautical miles by boat from his home…

Forecasting the Future With Fossils

One of the most critical issues facing the scientific world, no less the future of humanity, is climate change. Unlocking information to help understand and mitigate the impact of a warming planet is a complex puzzle that requires interdisciplinary input…

ECS Professor Pankaj K. Jha Receives NSF Grant to Develop Quantum Technology

Detecting single photons—the smallest unit of light—is crucial for advanced quantum technologies such as optical quantum computing, communication and ultra-sensitive imaging. Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) are the most efficient means of detecting single photons and these detectors can count…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.