CINCINNATI, Sept. 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kroger
Co. (NYSE: KR) today announced a new, national effort aimed at
ending hunger in the communities Kroger calls home and eliminating
waste across the company by 2025.
Experience the interactive Multichannel News Release here:
https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8164551-kroger-zero-hunger-zero-waste/
"No family in a community we serve should ever go hungry, and no
food in a store we operate should ever go to waste," said
Rodney McMullen, Kroger's chairman
and CEO.
Across the United States, 42
million Americans struggle with hunger. At the same time, an
estimated 72 billion pounds of food ends up in a landfill every
year.
"More than 40 percent of the food produced in the U.S. each year
goes unconsumed, while one in eight people struggle with hunger.
That just doesn't make sense," Mr. McMullen said. "As America's
grocer and one of the largest retailers in the world, we are
committing to doing something about it."
Kroger's visionary Zero Hunger | Zero Waste plan includes the
bold commitments outlined below, in keeping with the company's
Purpose to Feed the Human Spirit™.
Kroger is also crowdsourcing for solutions, asking communities,
partners and other stakeholders to help provide ideas, feedback and
best practices as the effort evolves.
"We don't – and we won't – have all the answers," said
Jessica Adelman, Kroger's group vice
president of corporate affairs. "While we are clear about our
vision, we are flexible about how to get there. We are working
closely with both Feeding America and World Wildlife Fund (WWF),
our longstanding partners, to develop transparent metrics to track
our progress."
"And we are inviting everyone who is passionate about feeding
people and protecting the planet to join us in our mission to end
hunger in our communities and eliminate waste across our company by
2025," Ms. Adelman added.
"Hunger exists in every county and affects every demographic
group in this country," said Diana
Aviv, CEO of Feeding America®. "If we are to
succeed in creating a hunger-free America, it will take the
combined efforts of a variety of groups – policymakers, nonprofits,
individuals and corporations – working together with the 200
network member food banks. Kroger is stepping up to the challenge
and we look forward to working with them on their Zero Hunger |
Zero Waste plan."
"The production and consumption of food has the largest
environmental footprint of any human activity. By wasting less
food, we can reduce the environmental impact of food production
while also conserving biodiversity and wildlife habitat," said
Sheila Bonini, Senior Vice
President, Private Sector Engagement, WWF. "Kroger's zero waste
commitment sets a new standard for food waste reduction goals and
will have a ripple effect across their supply chain and
industry."
Zero Hunger | Zero Waste: A Plan to End Hunger In Kroger
Communities
and Eliminate Waste In The Kroger Co.
- Establish a $10 million
innovation fund within The Kroger Co. Foundation to
address hunger, food waste and the paradoxical relationship between
the two.
- Accelerate food donations to provide three billion meals by
2025 to feed people facing hunger in the places Kroger calls
home. In partnership with its customers, associates and other
partners, Kroger has donated one billion meals via combined food
and funds donations since 2013.
- Donate not just more food,
more balanced meals via Kroger's
industry-leading fresh food donations program. Kroger has been
feeding people facing hunger since the company's inception in 1883,
and as a founding partner of Feeding America, the nation's largest
hunger relief organization, Kroger has longstanding partners with
food banks across the country. Today, Kroger store associates are
empowered to identify meat, produce, dairy and bakery items for
donation that remain safe, fresh and nutritious. Last year, Kroger
donated the equivalent of 46 million fresh meals to local food
banks in addition to dry goods and shelf-stable groceries.
- Advocate for public policy solutions to address hunger
and to shorten the line at food banks, lobbying for continued
funding of federal hunger relief programs, and for public policies
that help communities prevent and divert waste from landfills,
including recycling, composting and sustainability programs that
can be scaled for maximum impact.
- Achieve all Zero Waste 2020 goals outlined in the annual
Kroger sustainability report.
- Eliminate food waste by 2025 through prevention,
donation and diversion efforts in all stores and across Kroger.
Develop transparent reporting on food loss and waste.
- Join forces with both new and longstanding partners to
identify opportunities, leverage data, and determine where by
working together Kroger can help the most.
- Transform communities and improve the health of millions
of Americans by 2025 by making balanced meals more readily
available, sharing scalable food waste solutions with other
retailers, restaurants and local governments, and working within
Kroger's supply chain to reduce farm-to-fork food loss.
"Zero Hunger | Zero Waste is a vision for the America we want to
help create with our associates, customers and stakeholders," Mr.
McMullen said. "This is our moonshot.'"
"We recognize we have a lot of work to do," he added. "But we
know when Kroger's more than 443,000 associates put their passion
to work to make something happen, we can uplift our communities,
the planet and each other."
Follow our journey and join the conversation at thekrogerco.com
and #ZeroHungerZeroWaste.
About Feeding America
Feeding America is the nationwide network of 200 food banks that
leads the fight against hunger in the
United States. Together, we provide food to more than 46
million people through 60,000 food pantries and meal programs in
communities across America. Feeding America also supports programs
that improve food security among the people we serve; educates the
public about the problem of hunger; and advocates for legislation
that protects people from going hungry. Individuals, charities,
businesses and government all have a role in ending hunger. Donate.
Volunteer. Advocate. Educate. Together we can solve hunger.
Visit www.feedingamerica.org, find us on Facebook or
follow us on Twitter.
About WWF
WWF is one of the world's leading conservation organizations,
working in 100 countries for over half a century. With the support
of almost 5 million members worldwide, WWF is dedicated to
delivering science-based solutions to preserve the diversity and
abundance of life on Earth, halt the degradation of the
environment, and combat climate change. Producing enough food while
limiting our impact on the environment is one of the biggest
challenges of our time, and WWF is working to drive sustainable
food systems to conserve nature and feed humanity. Visit
www.worldwildlife.org to learn more and follow our news
conversations on Twitter @World_Wildlife.
About Kroger
At The Kroger Co., we are dedicated to our Purpose: to Feed The
Human Spirit™.
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SOURCE The Kroger Co.