Kansas food experts outline problems of waste and access at inaugural summit • Kansas Reflector

WICHITA — Food experts in Kansas say food waste is a growing problem in the state and solutions to food insecurity may lie within local connections.

ICT Food Rescue executive director Stephanie Merritt, in a presentation Wednesday at the inaugural Kansas Local Food Summit in Wichita, said food waste and food insecurity are two concerns that go together. Merritt’s organization gathers edible food that would be wasted in the Wichita metro area and redistributes it to 16 nonprofit organizations, including homeless shelters and recovery homes that serve people suffering from food insecurity.

More than 30 other Wichita-area groups are on a waiting list to receive food products from ICT Food Rescue. The agency was established in 2016, and Merritt said the nonprofit now features an Upcycle Kitchen housed in a church where an in-house chef reuses mail-delivery meals and fresh ingredients for clients in need. More than 50 volunteers “rescue” food every 48 hours from about 50 participating restaurants, nurseries, markets and caterers, Merritt said.

Last year, Merritt’s group collected more than 205,000 pounds of food, equal to about 171,000 meals. In the past 90 days, Merritt said her team has conducted almost 1,500 food rescues across the Wichita area.

“We’re offering a solution to food waste in our area,” Merritt said. “If you don’t live it, then you don’t see how big of a problem this is.”

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 2022 more than 10 million households across the country were considered food insecure. USDA statistics indicate about 30-40% of the nation’s food supply is wasted. Merritt said that is partly because of confusing labels on food products.

Consumers have a difficult time understanding the difference between an expiration date and a “best buy” date on food, as those labels are not government-mandated but are instead a food industry addition most often used to indicate freshness. Merritt said even she, as executive director of ICT Food Rescue, still gets confused by the dates printed on food products. She said dairy products make up the biggest food group wasted in Wichita and the state of Kansas, in part because of misunderstood labels.

Kansas State University Research and Extension agents held community roundtables around the state last autumn to discuss food challenges and needs. Across 14 different roundtable discussions, agents discovered Kansans want fresh, local food options available in local grocery stores, farmers markets and restaurants. They also learned that residents want stronger connections between food suppliers and their neighbors.

University of Missouri food systems professor Mary Hendrickson said the state of Kansas has changed in the last 40 years from a predominantly wheat-producing state to one that produces more corn and soybeans, mostly intended to be used for cattle feed.

“A lot of agriculture in Kansas is oriented toward large, globalized, consolidated chains,” Hendrickson said. “But there’s a lot of folks concerned about what that means for their communities, for their ecologies, and for their livelihood, so that’s when we start to talk about the alternatives.”

Hendrickson said the alternatives include ICT Food Rescue and other organizations that assist food-insecure residents. In Kansas’ rural and frontier communities, Hendrickson said, overall food security may involve “thinking big” on topics from water use and soil health to bolstering local partnerships.

She said food needs look different in rural parts of Kansas, where “food transactions” regularly include bartering for products or services. Enhanced partnerships across communities and organizations can help alleviate food insecurity, especially in sparsely populated regions, she said.

“We are sowing the seeds right now for what the future is going to look like,” Hendrickson said.