Why Saving Grace Food Rescue will have a role in Omaha's Climate Action Plan - KETV Omaha

Why Saving Grace Food Rescue will have a role in Omaha's Climate Action Plan

For 10 years, Saving Grace Food Rescue has worked to prevent food from going to waste. They not only hope to serve those in need, but they want to help save the environment too. This year, Saving Grace is working with leaders to play a key role in Omaha's Climate Action Plan.

"We're not doing our due diligence, right, from start to finish if we're just discarding it in the trash," said Tyler Humphrey, the senior executive chef at the CHI Health Center and Charles Schwab Field.

For a decade, Saving Grace has stopped by organizations to pick up edible, leftover food that would otherwise be tossed in the garbage.

"We make it easy for food donors to donate that food and we get it that same day — no warehousing — to over 40 nonprofits," said Saving Grace Founder Beth Ostdiek Smith.

And here's some food for thought: Saving Grace says more than 30% of available food in the U.S. goes unsold or uneaten. Most of that goes straight to the landfill.

"A head of lettuce, when it gets thrown into the landfill... people don't realize that it can take up to 20, to 25 years to decompose as other food products are piled on top of it. And that's setting off methane gas the whole time," Ostdiek Smith said.

That's a big reason why Omaha City Council President Pete Festersen is working with Saving Grace, for the city's climate action plan.

"We want to have a comprehensive plan completed by March for implementation and this is one of those really simple things that could really make a difference," Festersen said.

Festersen said preventing food from going to waste can go a long way for everyone in the community.

"That'll save taxpayers money that otherwise they're paying to support landfills throughout the city."

As Saving Grace celebrates hitting 8 million pounds of food they've been able to rescue and donate, chefs like Humphrey hope more organizations think twice about tossing unwanted leftovers.

"It's fulfilling, it's gratifying, it's all of those things," Humphrey said.

Saving Grace said one thing you can do to prevent food waste, is making a list when you go grocery shopping to avoid having a lot of excess food. You can learn more about the organization, here.