HB 2016-1072 - No More Going Hungry in Atlasia Act (GOES TO SENATE!)

[NeverAgain]

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Sponsor: Siren

Okay, 48 hours for some debates!

[Enduro]

I read a whole lot of forced charity, and I'm not comfortable with giving a government agency this much power over food.

[Anna Komnene]

Yes, it is technically forced charity, but the alternative is literally dumping it all in landfills.  We're not talking about asking/requiring markets to donate food that they would otherwise be selling.  This is all food that's going to be taken off the shelves anyway and dumped.  Markets rarely keep food approaching the date on the shelf because customers don't want to buy that, but there's actually a lot of food that's still good and could go to help feed lots of hungry people.  With food, it's not that we don't have enough of it.  We're just really inefficient with it.

Currently, billions of tons of perfectly good food gets wasted by big supermarkets each year. If instead, they donated that food to local food banks and shelters before it expired, that would go a long way to helping people be able to eat.

I got this idea from legislation that was recently passed unanimously ( ) in France, and I just thought it was a really cool idea.  I hope more countries, including Atlasia adopt this policy to be more prudent in our management of unsold/unused/unwanted food.

[Goldwater]

I can get behind this. The amount of edible food that is wasted in this country by being thrown out by stores is just insane.

[NeverAgain]

I can get behind this. The amount of edible food that is wasted in this country by being thrown out by stores is just insane.

Completely agreed.

[Enduro]

We should limit this agency's power, and ability to gain power.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

This is an excellent idea. As others have said, the amount of edible food thrown out on a daily basis is obscene, especially when you consider how many of our own citizens don't have enough to eat.

[Leinad]

This:

The amount of edible food that is wasted in this country by being thrown out by stores is just insane.

But also this:

I'm not comfortable with giving a government agency this much power over food.

I'll try to think about ways to improve this when it hits the Senate.

[Enduro]

I'm trying to think of a way to keep power away from this agency's hands. Coming up with nothing, anyone have any ideas?

[Goldwater]

I'm trying to think of a way to keep power away from this agency's hands. Coming up with nothing, anyone have any ideas?

I honestly have no idea. What powers are you concerned about the agency having?

[Mike Thick]

I'm not very concerned about the agency having this much power, as I can't really see how said power would be abused

[Goldwater]

I'm not very concerned about the agency having this much power, as I can't really see how said power would be abused

Yeah. I mean, it's not like this is controlling sales or anything, it's just about food that would otherwise go to waste.

[NeverAgain]

The Agency's power lies with stopping food waste and transporting it to those that need it most. I think that the only way it can be abused is to have a corporate, for-profit food bank CEO control the agency, which, to my knowledge, are very rare.

[Heisenberg]

This:

The amount of edible food that is wasted in this country by being thrown out by stores is just insane.

But also this:

I'm not comfortable with giving a government agency this much power over food.

Agree with Leinad. I think this is probably overreach, but I do like the idea of finding ways to deal with the insanely large amount of food that is wasted. I like the idea of getting food to charity.

Also, I think we should include a provision that bans school cafeterias from forcing students to take food they do not intend to eat. I know this is one major source of food waste IRL.

[Anna Komnene]

Also, I think we should include a provision that bans school cafeterias from forcing students to take food they do not intend to eat. I know this is one major source of food waste IRL.

I think I would support that, but I'm not sure how to word it.  Maybe we could include a section on schools.

[Heisenberg]

Also, I think we should include a provision that bans school cafeterias from forcing students to take food they do not intend to eat. I know this is one major source of food waste IRL.

I think I would support that, but I'm not sure how to word it.  Maybe we could include a section on schools.

How about?
[quote]Section 4: Food at School
1. School cafeterias are hereby prohibited from forcing students to take any food he or she does not want when buying breakfast or lunch.
2. Food that is left over and fit for consumption shall be donated to a local food bank.

[Leinad]

I think Heisenberg's amendment is good. This is definitely an area government has control over (of course we should also work on limiting federal control of education, but that's for a different bill ).

[Anna Komnene]

Yeah, that sounds good.  At first I was kind of worried that might constrain schools in extreme situations like kids with eating disorders, but I think the part about "when buying" makes sure that it's not too sweeping.  That's why it took me a while to reply.

Anyway, amendment is friendly.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

What is the administration of this agency going to likely cost?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Also what are the prospects for regional involvement in this effort? I would think it would be far more effective with a collaborative approach then the federal gov't going it alone.

[Anna Komnene]

What is the administration of this agency going to likely cost?

I'm not the best at budget estimates, and this is kind of a new policy that afaik has only been done in France and Italy.  A little research finds that the French agency has an annual budget of about $33-43 million, so I guess it would probably be similar with this agency.  Maybe a bit more or less depending on actual budget negotiations?  If someone that knows more about budget estimates wants to chime in feel free.

Also what are the prospects for regional involvement in this effort? I would think it would be far more effective with a collaborative approach then the federal gov't going it alone.

I don't know.  Do you have any suggestions?

[Heisenberg]

I think Heisenberg's amendment is good. This is definitely an area government has control over (of course we should also work on limiting federal control of education, but that's for a different bill ).

Absolutely. Students have a right not to take food they don't want.

Yeah, that sounds good.  At first I was kind of worried that might constrain schools in extreme situations like kids with eating disorders, but I think the part about "when buying" makes sure that it's not too sweeping.  That's why it took me a while to reply.

Anyway, amendment is friendly.

Thanks!

[Enduro]

Perhaps this agency should be three different parts, for each region, with a lower cost agency to oversee operations that are interregional.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

What is the administration of this agency going to likely cost?

I'm not the best at budget estimates, and this is kind of a new policy that afaik has only been done in France and Italy.  A little research finds that the French agency has an annual budget of about $33-43 million, so I guess it would probably be similar with this agency.  Maybe a bit more or less depending on actual budget negotiations?  If someone that knows more about budget estimates wants to chime in feel free.

Also what are the prospects for regional involvement in this effort? I would think it would be far more effective with a collaborative approach then the federal gov't going it alone.

I don't know.  Do you have any suggestions?

I am thinking that with regional partnerships of some kind we can not only expand the impact of the program, but also divide up the costs.

If we go this route, I would recommend, especially for Senators that they involve their Governors in discussions about the feasibility in their regions of such partnerships and that way once it passes, there is a ready discussion that can then proceed to actions towards implementation at the regional end as opposed to just dumping it in their laps.

[Anna Komnene]

I think it'd be great to get regions involved, but I'm not sure how we would go about it in this bill.  I don't think the federal govt has authority to create regional agencies, and allocating funds for regions would seem to defeat the purpose.  Maybe something like this?

Section 1: Establishing an Agency to Manage Food Conservation
1. The Agency of Food Conservation shall be established under the purview of the Interior Department to manage conservation of edible food from markets, to create programs to educate consumers on food conservation practices, to coordinate interaction between regional food conservation agencies, and to encourage food conservation in Atlasia.