Sponsor: Tehama County Solid Waste Management Agency

Since its establishment in 2016, SB1383 has sought to reduce methane emissions in landfills by cutting California’s organic waste disposal by 75% and diverting 20% of edible food to people and food banks by the year 2025. […]

Daniel Dempsey has been operating Tehama County Gleaners and Food Bank for the last 11 years in Red Bluff, Calif. The organization dates back to the 1980s and has been working to help combat hunger and food waste within the county ever since […]

In Tehama County, resource conservation is less about a hands-off approach to nature and more about how residents and agriculture work with the land to maintain a mutually beneficial relationship. For the Resource Conservation District of Tehama County, composting is one area where new environmental needs can blend with traditional farming practices. […]

n Corning, Calif., population 8,209, representatives from several local charities stop by the Sav-Mor grocery store twice a week to collect food.

Free food, that is. […]

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many Tehama County residents faced the daunting challenges of food deficiencies, unemployment and homelessness. Heather Ledford, the P.A.T.H. executive director, and her dedicated team addressed this need by implementing emergency food and shelter programs and job search services. P.A.T.H., which stands for Poor And The Homeless, is a local nonprofit organization established in 1999. […]

What happens to excess food from grocery stores after it reaches its expiration date? The owners of Nu-Way Market—Beau Perkins, and Bill Patchen, who have been operating the store since 2004—use a more socially conscious approach to handling food waste. […]

The cost-benefit analysis of composting kitchen scraps for a personal garden can be discouraging—but when the process and payoffs of recycling organic waste are scaled up to the size of a small farm, such as Red Gate Ranch in Red Bluff, coffee grounds are as good as gold. […]

Marissa Stevens has been the Director of Nutrition Services for Red Bluff Joint Union High School District for eight years. When she was hired, Marissa had a personal goal: to bring a sustainability-garden-to-cafeteria program to the district. Two years ago, that goal got some much-needed help. […]

“There’s more to composting than saving food scraps,” says Bobie Hughes, Executive Director of the Sacramento River Discovery Center.
Hughes, who has been composting food waste at the Center for the past five years, is among a growing number of Tehama County residents committed to recycling unwanted food materials and reducing food waste. […]

According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, Californians throw away approximately 6 million tons of food annually. This staggering number equates to 18% of all material that goes into California’s landfills. With these types of numbers, the waste issue seems daunting, and residents may doubt their efforts could possibly make much difference, so why try? […]

Under SB 1383, new organic waste regulations have begun to take effect throughout California. However, some rural counties are exempt to give them time to assess and address their unique challenges in recycling organic waste. […]

With SB 1383, California is taking steps to combat climate change and the destruction it brings. The regulation, which was enacted in 2016, requires a 75% reduction in organic waste disposal and 20% of edible food waste diverted away from landfills by 2025. […]