Morning bread by late afternoon. Yoghurt a day shy of a date that means almost nothing, bananas too freckled for the display stand. Edible, all of it, and buried anyway.
California decided that arrangement was a choice rather than a law of nature, then outlawed it.
What the rule actually says
Senate Bill 1383, signed in 2016, set California a target: recover 20 per cent of the edible food that would otherwise go to landfill and get it to people, by 2025. CalRecycle, the agency running the program, puts the obligation on donors in blunt terms. Regulated businesses must arrange to recover the maximum amount of edible food they would otherwise send to the tip.
Tier one businesses came under the rule in January 2022. Per Union City’s summary of the definitions, tier one covers supermarkets turning over $2 million or more, grocery stores of at least 10,000 square feet, wholesale food vendors and contract food service providers. Tier two joined in 2024: restaurants with 250 seats or more, hotels with at least 200 rooms, hospitals with 100 beds and up.
Donation runs on paperwork. Generators sign contracts with food recovery organisations, keep records of what went out and how often, and o...