In April 2018, TDEC announced Get Food Smart TN with the inaugural participants of the Recognition Program. Fast forward five years and the program has grown into more than we could have imagined. Over the past five years, our now 192 members have diverted nearly 252 million pounds of food from the landfill through various food waste reduction strategies.
Though our mission has stayed the same, the tactics we have used have shifted over the last year and a half. Now more than ever, education and outreach are the leading ways in which we are fighting food waste in Tennessee. After discussions and many considerations, we have decided to phase out the Recognition Program portion of Get Food Smart TN. Starting June 30, 2023, we will no longer accept Recognition Program applications and will be removing requirements from the website. We will send out one more request for metrics in January 2024 to include in the Annual Update.
We plan to continue to recognize businesses and organizations who are doing their part to reduce food waste and increase food recovery and diversion in Tennessee, but on a voluntary basis, without reporting requirements. We will continue to connect entities together and provide technical assistance.
Moving forward, we will continue to house a map of entities who have food waste reduction strategies and add to it as we learn of more. There will be an opportunity each year for entities to voluntarily report metrics of food waste diverted and/or recovered if they decide to do so. This information will be added to the map.
We would like to thank each of our participants who have been in our program over the past five years, and we want you to know that we are still here to assist you and will continue to recognize the hard work and commitment that goes into fighting food waste in Tennessee.
