Last week, Clean Memphis began its #901SaveTheFood, a marketing and education campaign that looks to develop best practices around reduction, diversion, and composting. Executive Director, Janet Boscarino, said that Clean Memphis hooked up with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation,which was launching a food matters initiative. They wanted to see Memphis do the same. The Natural Resource Defense Council provided guidance, which was working with other cities such as Nashville, Atlanta, and Orlando.
“This new partnership has helped us refine our strategy and also create energy and emphasis around setting a kind of audacious goal that aligns with the national goal,” Boscarino said. Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland signed on as part of the city’s Climate Action Plan. “The U.S. spends $218 billion a year growing, processing, and transporting food that’s never eaten,” she said. “Here, locally, we know that about 40% of the food that’s grown or produced is not eaten.”