Clark County joins effort to prevent food wasteFree

Joining an international sustainability effort, the Clark County Council on Tuesday proclaimed April 1-7 as Food Waste Prevention Week.

According to the county’s Green Neighbors program, Washington generates an estimated 1.1 million tons of food waste each year, including 400,000 tons of edible food that is disposed of in landfills. Nationwide, up to 35 percent of all food produced is thrown away rather than eaten.

In celebration of Food Waste Prevention Week, the outreach team is launching a podcast series, produced in partnership with Washington State University Vancouver’s student-run radio station, KOUG Radio. The five-episode series will feature discussions of hot topics around food waste and offer tips for how families can save money and prevent food waste.

The podcast features local food waste experts, including Pete DuBois from Clark County Composter Recycler and Stacey Tigner-Loy from WSU Clark County Extension SNAP-Ed Nutrition Education Program.

The complete podcast series will be released April 1 on the Clark County Green Neighbors website at https://clarkgreenneighbors.org/food-too-good-to-waste, on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@clarkgreenneighbors) and on KOUG Radio.

In collaboration with FVRLibraries and WSU Clark County Extension SNAP-Ed, the county will host an interactive workshop titled “Cooking with Leftovers on a Budget,” featuring Tigner-Loy. The free workshop is 6-7:30 p.m. April 3 at the Cascade Park Community Library, 600 N.E. 136th Ave., Vancouver. Advanced registration at https://clarkcountycomposts.org/classes-and-workshops/current-offerings/872-cooking-with-leftovers-on-a-budget is requested.