Model Executive Order on Municipal Leadership on Food Waste Reduction: With and Without Commentaries

Co-authored with Linda Breggin and Jessica Sugarman, Environmental Law Institute

Given the large amount of food that some municipalities procure and the many people that they employ, the impact of food waste reduction measures in municipal operations can be substantial and far-reaching. For example, New York City purchases $500 million worth of food each year and employs around 325,000 people across dozens of agencies. To help address this waste, NRDC and the Environmental Law Institute developed a Model Executive Order on Municipal Leadership on Food Waste Reduction, designed to give municipalities options to “lead by example” by instituting policies and programs within and across city government to raise awareness about and reduce food waste.

This Model Executive Order is a template that can be adapted and issued by mayors and other local government executive authorities to lead by example by (1) reducing the amount of food wasted throughout municipal operations; (2) highlighting the importance of reducing food waste to businesses, residents, and other community members; and (3) demonstrating food waste reduction measures that businesses and other entities may voluntarily replicate. 

For ease of use, we are providing a Model Executive Order with commentaries to provide additional information on each point, as well as a clean version without commentaries, a background memo, a sample reporting template, and a slide deck. 

This policy is also accompanied by a Model Resolution; resolutions are adopted by municipal legislative bodies (most commonly city councils), typically state a formal opinion or position, and can be used to express municipal policy. Resolutions vary in form and content—and in the process for how they are adopted. This Model Resolution is drafted to reflect commonly used structures and language but can be modified as needed to conform with a municipality’s requirements with respect to form and style and a council’s scope of authority, which may be set out in the municipal charter or code. The Model can also be tailored to align with a municipality’s priorities and its available staffing and funding resources.

For more information please contact Darby Hoover, dhoover@nrdc.org, or Linda Breggin, breggin@eli.org.