ACE THE WASTE! STUDENT COMPETITION FOR FOOD WASTE REDUCTION IDEAS!

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is hosting this first-ever competition calling on students to come up with creative solutions to reduce food loss and waste. Students, ages 11-18 years old, may submit 1-2 page proposals or 1-2 minute videos that develop creative solutions to reduce food loss and waste in the US.

Topic ideas include:
Preventing food waste - such as ideas to prolong the storage life of food; improve efficiencies in the processing of food and its distribution; and create new products from unharvested or unsold crops (like so-called “ugly fruit and vegetables”) or from food processing by-products.
Recovering wholesome, excess food to feed people – such as innovative approaches for getting excess food to people who need it and measuring the value of food donations.
Recycling food scraps to keep them out of landfills – such as ideas to connect food waste generators with recyclers and to create animal feed, compost, and energy.
Raising awareness – such as ideas about how to make students more aware about the amount of food being wasted and let them know how to reduce it.

Proposals will be judged on impact potential; originality and creativity; clarity of expression; and adherence/appropriateness to theme. The deadline for proposals is 5 p.m. EDT, Friday, May 24, 2019.