Date of Completion
2017
Document Type
Honors College Thesis
Department
Environmental Studies
Thesis Type
Honors College, College of Arts and Science Honors
First Advisor
Meredith T. Niles
Second Advisor
Brendan Fisher
Third Advisor
Katharine "Kit" Anderson
Keywords
Vermont, Act 148, food waste, food insecurity, Essex county, Chittenden county
Abstract
It is estimated that as much as 40% of the food produced in the United States goes to waste (Hall, Guo, Dore, & Chow, 2009), and much is still edible when it is disposed of. Simultaneously, the United States faces significant food insecurity, with an estimated 12.7% of the population meeting the criteria in 2015 (Coleman-Jensen, Rabbit, Gregory, & Singh, 2016). In 2012, Vermont passed the Universal Recycling of Solid Waste Act, or Act 148, which bans recyclable materials from landfills by 2020 by mandating their recovery (VT DEC, 2014). Because the law includes edible food waste and prioritizes food donation, it has the potential to increase donations to food-recovery and -distribution programs. I evaluate whether or not Act 148 has led to increased food donations; if so, whether its impact has been equal in diverse regions of the state; and if an increase in food availability has resulted in increased food access. I compare Chittenden and Essex counties, which differ greatly in population size and density, urban development, and rates of food insecurity, through a series of semi-structured interviews with directors of food-aid organizations in both counties. Of the generally larger and well-supported Chittenden organizations, 100% had heard of Act 148 and 75% had seen increases in donations as a result. The smaller organizations in Essex, serving populations with higher food insecurity, had seen no changes since the law’s implementation. These findings lead to the conclusion that the impact has not been equal across the state and has not affected the most food-insecure populations.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Cassara, Gina E., "The Impact of Act 148 on Food-Insecure Populations in Chittenden and Essex Counties of Vermont" (2017). UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses. 136.
https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/hcoltheses/136