WHEREAS, up to 35 percent of all food produced in Maine is thrown away rather than eaten; and

WHEREAS, about 361,000 tons of food is wasted annually in Maine, much of which is safe and nutritious food that could instead help feed the 1 in 5 Maine children and 1 in 8 Maine adults who go hungry; and

WHEREAS, Maine can help our farmers and build our food system by recycling inedible food waste and returning the nutrients and energy to the soil as compost instead of trash; and

WHEREAS, everyone benefits from ending food waste, including the average Maine family that can save up to $1,866 per year, Maine communities that can reduce their waste disposal costs, and Maine businesses that can cut their food purchasing, handling and disposal costs by reducing food waste; and

WHEREAS, Maine has the opportunity to conserve our valuable resources – land, water, energy, and labor – used to produce food that ultimately goes wasted; and

WHEREAS, Maine K-12 schools have a special role in educating our next generation to reduce, recover, and recycle the estimated 7 million pounds of school food wasted annually; and

WHEREAS, we must do all we can to keep food waste out of the trash since the majority ends up in landfills where it produces dangerous methane gas, 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide and a major contributor to climate change;

NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved that I, Janet T. Mills, Governor of the State of Maine, do hereby proclaim the week of September 23-29, 2024 as

Maine Food Waste Awareness Week

and I encourage all Maine people to become aware of the wasted food in our homes, schools, and all around us, and to commit to stop throwing food away.

In testimony whereof, I have caused the Great Seal of the State to be hereunto affixed GIVEN under my hand at Augusta this fourth day of September Two Thousand Twenty-Four