Make Food Not Waste’s game-changing plan for Michigan

CSPI’s Engagement Team traveled to Detroit to connect with community organizations on the ground working at the intersection of food, health, and justice. We came to listen and learn from those increasing food access and those strengthening neighborhoods through policy, advocacy, and direct service. Each organization has a unique approach to addressing food and health issues in Detroit which is ultimately working towards a more equitable future for their communities and beyond. We’re grateful for the conversations we had and for the opportunity to share their stories.

Here, Danielle Todd, founder and executive director of Make Food Not Waste, shares her organization’s ambitious—but achievable—plan to cut Michigan’s food waste in half in just five years. 

Imagine leaving the grocery store with five bags of food. On your way to your car, you pass people who ask for some of your food, but you keep walking. When you arrive at your car, you put three bags in the trunk and two on the ground, and then drive home. Each time you go to the grocery store, you do the same thing. That food you leave in the parking lot ends up costing you $760 for the year.

The food that you left sits alongside the food that everyone else left there, too. Soon it’s a mess–you can barely find a place to park, it smells bad, and rodents are everywhere. Sure, there are people in the parking lot who could have eaten it before it sat outside, but that didn’t happen.

One day at the grocery store, you overhear a kid ask her mom, “Why does everyone leave two bags of groceries when it makes the parking lot gross? And why can’t we give it to the people in the parking lot who are asking for it?” The mom says, “Oh, sweetie, that’s just how we do it.”

And that’s essentially “how we do it” across our food system. Each year, we landfill 40 percent of the food we grow, despite the fact that 13.5 percent of US households face food insecurity, it costs us all billions of dollars, and it’s a leading cause of climate change.

Despite its far-reaching impact, food waste is one of the most solvable environmental and social challenges of our time. Many solutions are straightforward and affordable–hello, clean-plate club! Others, like building composting infrastructure and extending food shelf life, are already within reach. We know how to keep food out of landfills; we just need to do it. 

A five-year plan: Cutting food waste in half in Michigan 

At Make Food Not Waste, we’ve been working on redirecting wholesome food from landfills to the community for the past four years. At our two Upcycling Kitchens in Detroit, our team of professional chefs produces 100,000 delicious, nutritious, prepared meals, all from food that would otherwise go to waste.

At the same time, we’re laying the groundwork for long-term systems change in our state. Michigan’s goal is to cut food waste by 50 percent by 2030. It’s a bold goal, and with just five years to make it happen, we need to move fast and with focus. 

Beginning where the waste is

Michigan currently sends two billion pounds of food to landfills each year, so to meet its goal, Michigan must divert one billion pounds of food waste from its landfills. Almost half of the state’s population lives in Southeast Michigan, in and around Detroit. Since more people means more waste, the bulk of the state’s food waste occurs in this area.

But it’s not just the region as a whole. The 15 most populated cities in Southeast Michigan produce about 750 million pounds of food waste each year. Keeping all that food out of landfills gets us close to that one billion mark. Therefore, our strategy is to hyperfocus on those cities as a way to efficiently and effectively reach the state’s goal as quickly as possible. 

The three prongs of food waste reduction

Reaching this goal requires a three-pronged approach in each of the 15 cities:

1. Reduce the amount of food waste produced in the first place
2. Increase food donations to help those in
3. Ensure everyone has access to food scrap recycling

These steps must work together. Residents, businesses, schools, and institutions need to be motivated, informed, and equipped to act. A piecemeal effort won’t suffice—we need a comprehensive approach to achieve real, lasting change. 

Building the map to success

In 2024, we collaborated with the City of Southfield and 17 local and national partners to investigate. We developed a detailed Blueprint that outlines exactly what needs to happen to reach these goals, from implementing solutions to calculating costs.

Spoiler alert: It’s more affordable than you might think.

This Blueprint is our starting point—a scalable model that can guide Southeast Michigan’s remaining 14 large cities and townships. 

How you can help cut food waste—in Michigan and everywhere

Now it’s time to move from planning to action. This means adapting and implementing the Blueprint across the region. It also means people everywhere need to make simple changes, including:

• Wasting less food at home. Learn simple tips to reduce food waste in your kitchen.
• Advocating for residential curbside food scrap pickup in your city or town.
• Getting involved. Spread awareness and encourage action in your community. 

The time to act is now

Wasting food is costly to us, our planet, and our community. Ending it is easier than we think. We have the knowledge. We have the tools. What we need now is to act.

Interested in learning more? Visit makefoodnotwaste.org or @makefooddetroit on Instagram.