Goal 2:
Environmental Stewardship
State of the landscape
Outcome 2.2
Reduce Food-Related Carbon Emissions
Outcome 2.1
Improve Edible Food Waste Recovery
#1
Food waste is the largest recoverable portion of the region’s waste stream and is the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions generated by people in Oregon, after vehicles.
40,000
The number of acres of Oregon farmland lost in since 1980, according to Oregon's Department of Land Conservation and Development. When our local production capacity disappears, our supply chains often grow longer.
26%
The share of global greenhouse gas emissions caused by food production, with industrial agriculture being a major driver.
72%
The decrease in the number of farms in the U.S. since 1935. Meanwhile, the average size of farms has nearly tripled, according to USDA data. This correlates with an increase in resource-intensive, large-scale agricultural practices.
Food justice is climate justice.
Through innovative food recovery and waste management, CAFE members are keeping edible meals from going to waste, while also mitigating the harmful impacts of sending organics to the landfill. Urban Gleaners and the Portland Fruit Tree Project are our superheroes in the gleaning space, and all members participate in food recovery at some scale. On the other end of the food chain, we recognize that how our food is grown, processed, and moved from farm to plate has significant environmental implications. CAFE works closely with Verdier, a small nonprofit farm growing 100% organic produce for the coalition, and our first collaborative purchasing project includes food sourcing from local farmers whose operating ethos centers land stewardship and healthful, fair labor practices. As an added bonus, this means we get to plan planting lists and purchasing requests with our clients' preferences in mind! It's better for the environment, and better for our program participants, too. We envision a food assistance sector that works closely alongside our local producers to ensure that every food dollar we spend has the greatest possible impact.
Don't throw that away!
Since 2006, Urban Gleaners has rescued over 11 million pounds of food from being thrown away in landfills, where it decomposes and creates harmful methane gas. This 11 million pounds is equal to the impact of over 1,400 households' electricity consumption, or nearly 1,700 cars , over the course of one year. Similarly, the Portland Fruit Tree Project's rescued over 15,000 pounds of fruit in 2024, and any fruit that wasn't good enough to donate got a second life as a jam, fruit leather, or cider at a community pressing event. Gleaning food which would otherwise be sent to landfills is one of the simplest and most effective ways to combat hunger and climate change.
When food can't be eaten, it still feeds the system.
But what about the rescued food that isn't fit for human consumption? In 2025, Lift UP adopted a composting program following Urban Gleaners' best practices. Both Lift UP and Urban Gleaners donate the food waste which isn't fit for humans to local farmers who feed this additional food waste to their pigs and other animals. Building a network of local farmers and food rescuers helps to build a healthier, more resilient, and more climate friendly local food system.
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