Boston could be first municipality to require stores, restaurants, and hotels to donate leftover food Story by Melissa Ellin • Feb 28
A Lovin’ Spoonfuls truck delivery at the Everett Grace Food Pantry in 2021. © Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe B oston could be the first municipality to institute a food recovery program, said Councilors Gabriela Coletta and Ricardo Arroyo, who filed an ordinance Monday proposing the plan. If approved, the program would require certain food vendors — grocery stores, restaurants, and food- producing hotels — to give any safe-to-eat leftovers to local non-profits for human consumption. The ordinance would also formally establish the city’s first ever Office of Food Justice.
A hearing for the ordinance will take place during the regularly scheduled City Council meeting Wednesday.
Coletta said this is an important step for the city because so many people lack access to food, and this program would “put foods in the hands of our most vulnerable at the end of the day.”
“Hunger is more prevalent than folks can even imagine,” she said. “Our neighbors right now are going hungry.”
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