Food Waste Reduction Act
Author: Eleni di Messina (DP)
Sponsors: Joseph Sartori (DP)An act to reduce food waste and eliminate consumer confusion by establishing a comprehensive food labeling and food recovery system.
BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED, as follows:
§1 - Definitions
- Food waste - food that is discarded or lost uneaten
- Food recovery - reducing or eliminating food waste and ensuring it is eaten
- Date label - a date and phrase on food packaging of a product intended to communicate to consumers a date after which there may be change in the quality or safety of a product
- Food labeler - the entity that places a date label on food packaging of a product.
- Quality date - a date printed on food packaging that is intended to communicate to consumers the date after which the product may begin to deteriorate in quality but may still be safe for consumption.
- Ready-to-eat product - any product which may be intended to be consumed in its raw form or which may receive additional preparation for gastronomic or culinary rather than safety purposes. Ready-to-eat products include but are not limited to meat, poultry, and egg products as well as fruits and vegetables.
- Safety date - a date printed on food packaging of a ready-to-eat product after which time the product may pose a health risk.
- Compost - organic matter that has been decomposed and recycled as a fertilizer and soil amendment.
- Composting centre - a facility established to create compost.
- Yard trimmings - materials including but not limited to grass, clippings, shrubbery cuttings, leaves, tree limbs and other materials accumulated as the result of care of lawns, shrubbery, vines, and trees.
- Agribusiness - a farm or other entity related to agriculture owned by a corporation as opposed to an individual farmer.
- Gleaning - act of collecting leftover crops from farmers' fields after they have been commercially harvested.
- Fair market value - the price the property owner or business would have received if the food was sold in the usual market
- Food bank - a non-profit, charitable organisation that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough food to avoid hunger.
§2 - Quality Dates and Safety Dates
- Food labelers are required to place a date label on all food packaging, which may be a quality date or safety date as appropriate and as defined in Section 1.
- When a food labeler places a quality date on food packaging, they shall use the uniform phrase, "best if used by."
- When a food labeler places a safety date on food packaging of a ready-to-eat product as defined in Section 1, they shall use the uniform phrase "expires on."
- The quality date, safety date, and uniform phrase shall be located in a conspicuous place on the food packaging and shall be in a single, easy to read type style using both uppercase and lowercase letters in the standard form and shall be no smaller than 9-point font
§3 - Compost
- The entitity charged with the enforcement of the provisions of this Act shall establish composting centres, at least one in each province.
- Acceptable materials to be used in composting centres include but are not limited to, wasted food, yard trimmings, and manures.
- Compost produced from these centres shall be sold to individuals, farmers, or agribusinesses at a rate of [Currency]10/cubic yard. The future price of compost sold by these centres shall be determined each year by the entity charged with the enforcement of the provisions of this Act. Commercial resale of this product shall be forbidden.
- The composting centres shall employ individuals for the purpose of collecting acceptable materials for compost from individuals. The entity charged with enforcement of the provisions of this Act shall determine how and where these materials shall be collected.
- Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent any individual or corporation from utilising organic material for compost on their own property or from selling compost with the proper business license.
§4 - Agriculture
- Gleaning shall be legal.
- No farmer or agribusiness shall be required to allow gleaning on their property. All farmers or agribusinesses shall post signage in conspicuous places on their property stating that they permit gleaning or that they do not permit gleaning.
- Individuals or groups that wish to participate in gleaning shall notify the farmer or agribusiness of the date and time they wish to glean on the property and shall only do so subsequent to agreement on the part of the property owner. No property owner may discriminate against any individual or group wishing to glean. Individuals or groups that glean and property owners on whose property gleaning has occurred shall submit documentation of the date and time that they gleaned on the property, the amount and type(s) of crops gleaned, and a summary of what happened to the entity charged with the enforcement of this Act.
- Property owners on whose property gleaning has occurred shall be entitled to deduct from their taxes the fair market value of food gleaned from their property each year, subject to proper documentation.
- Property owners on whose property gleaning has occurred shall be immune from liability resulting from gleaning except in cases of gross negligence or intentional misconduct. This includes both liability due to the action of gleaning and the food gleaned.
§5 - Food Banks, Donations, and School Lunch
- No one shall prohibit the donation of apparently wholesome food products to food banks.
- Any individual, business, farmer, or other tax-eligible entity that donates food to a food bank shall be entitled to deduct from their taxes the fair market value of food donated each year, subject to proper documentation.
- Government agencies and entities and businesses or individuals that contract with government agencies and entities to provide food shall be required to donate unused, apparently wholesome, food products to a food bank.
- Any individual, business, farmer, or other tax-eligible entity that donates apparently wholesome food to a food bank shall be immune from liability resulting from the food donated except in cases of gross negligence or intentional misconduct.
§6 - Penalties
- If any food labeler shall knowingly violate the provisions of this Act, the official(s) determined to be responsible shall be subject to punishment of no less than 100 hours of community service and/or no more than one year in prison and the food labeler shall be subject to a fine of no less than [Currency]250,000.
- If any food labeler shall knowingly violate the provisions of this Act and it may be demonstrated in a court of law that an individual or individuals residing in Galatea died as a result of that violation, the official(s) determined to be responsible shall be subject to punishment of no less than 1000 hours of community service and no less than one year and no more than 10 years in prison and the food labeler shall to be subject to a fine of no less than [Currency]1,000,000.
- If any individual or business shall resell for commercial purposes the compost purchased from compost centres, they shall be subject to a fine of [Currency]100/cubic yard sold.
- If any individual or business that contracts with government agencies and entities to provide food is found not in compliance with the provisions of this Act, it shall lose any current contracts it holds and shall be banned from receiving a government contract for the next five years.
§7 - General Information
- No one shall prohibit the sale, donation, or use of any product after the quality date of the product has passed.
- All government departments shall submit to the entity charged with the enforcement of the provisions of this Act a food recovery plan and put it into effect upon approval of that plan by said entity.
- Enforcement of this Act shall be the responsibility of the entity charged with the regulation of health, agriculture, food by the Senate of Galatea or by an appropriate entity as determined by the Senate of Galatea.
- The entity charged with enforcing this Act shall conduct a national education and outreach campaign on quality dates, safety dates, food waste, and food recovery no later than 2 months after the passage of this Act.
- The provisions of this Act shall go into effect 30 days after the passage of this Act.
School Lunch Act
Author: Eleni di Messina (DP)
Sponsors: Joseph Sartori (DP)An act to provide free, nutritious meals to schoolchildren.
BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED, as follows:
§1 - Definitions
- School food authority (SFA) - a government entity charged with providing food in schools.
- Local education authority (LEA) - a local government entity charged with providing education to children from ages 3-18.
- School nutrition program (SNP) - a program intended to provide food to children in schools.
§2 - School Lunch
- All school food authorities and local education authorities are required to have a school nutrition program.
- All school nutrition programs are required to provide at least two meals per school day, free of charge, to any student whose family fills out a form requesting said meals. The exact form shall be determined by SFAs or LEAs, but no SFA or LEA shall set any meal eligibility criteria for students enrolled in schools under their jurisdiction.
§3 - School Lunch Requirements
- All SNPs are required to meet minimum nutritional requirements. These minimum nutritional requirements shall be developed and prescribed by the entity charged with the regulation of health, agriculture, food by the Senate of Galatea or by an appropriate entity as determined by the Senate of Galatea.
- The nutritional requirements developed and prescribed shall, at a minimum, require the provision of grains, fruit and/or vegetables, protein, milk and water at each meal.
§4 - Grants
- SFAs and LEAs that provide meals to students at schools are encouraged to purchase lower-price, nonstandard-size or -shape produce to be used in SNPs under the provisions of this Act.
- SFAs and LEAs that provide meals to students at schools are encouraged to purchase at least 50% of food used to provide those meals from local farms and/or businesses.
- SFAs and LEAs that comply with the provisions of §4 shall be eligible for additional grants of money for their school nutrition programs.
§5 - Enforcement and Penalties
- Enforcement of this Act shall be the responsibility of the entity charged with the regulation of health, agriculture, food, or education by the Senate of Galatea or by an appropriate entity as determined by the Senate of Galatea.
- SFAs or LEAs found not in compliance with the provisions of this Act shall be subject to partial loss of educational funding.
