Food Recovery Act of 2017

Bill: 115-hr-3444
Sponsor: Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1]
Introduced: 2017-07-27 in the House
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Accounting and auditing
Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Agricultural conservation and pollution
Agricultural education
Agricultural prices, subsidies, credit
Alternative and renewable resources
Charitable contributions
Civil actions and liability
Congressional operations and organization
Congressional oversight
Consumer affairs
Department of Agriculture
Education programs funding
Elementary and secondary education
Executive agency funding and structure
Food assistance and relief
Food industry and services
Food supply, safety, and labeling
Government information and archives
Government lending and loan guarantees
Government studies and investigations
Income tax deductions
Livestock
Marketing and advertising
Meat
Public contracts and procurement
Retail and wholesale trades
Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
Solid waste and recycling
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2017-07-27
text: 

Food Recovery Act of 2017

 
This bill provides funding and establishes requirements to reduce food waste and standardize date labeling on food. 
 
The bill authorizes grants or loans for activities related to: 
 
 
 raising awareness about wasted food and food recovery efforts to reduce the quantity of wasted food, 
 
 reducing food waste at schools and farms, and 
 
 installing facilities that include composting or anaerobic digesters that use food or crop waste to produce energy. 
 
 
The bill provides funds for: (1) state storage and distribution costs under the Emergency Food Assistance Program, and (2) national media campaigns to decrease food waste.
 
The bill also: 
 
 
establishes a Food Recovery Liaison within the Department of Agriculture (USDA), 
 
 specifies that composting is eligible for support under USDA's conservation programs, 
 
expands the tax deduction for charitable contributions to include contributions of food inventory for nonprofit retail sales,
 
expands the liability protections for the donation of food, and 
 
requires companies that receive federal food service contracts to donate surplus food to nonprofit organizations that assist food-insecure people. 
 
 

 
 
The bill requires date labels on food packaging to include the phrases &quot;best if used by&quot; to indicate food quality and &quot;use by&quot; to warn of food that may be unsafe to eat after a specified date. 
 
Labelers may include a quality date on packaging, but must include a safety date on ready-to-eat products. No one may prohibit the sale, donation, or use of a product based on passage of the quality date of the product. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-07-28
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2017-07-27
text: Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Government Reform, and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2017-07-27
text: Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Government Reform, and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2017-07-27
text: Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Government Reform, and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2017-07-27
text: Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Government Reform, and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2017-07-27
text: Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Government Reform, and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2017-07-27
text: Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, Energy and Commerce, Oversight and Government Reform, and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2017-07-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2017-07-27
text: Introduced in House