AFPI Joins EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin for Food Waste Pilot Launch

Scott Air Force Base, IL—On September 5, 2025, America First Policy Institute (AFPI) Director of Rural Policy Tate Bennett and Senior Advisor for Rural Policy Sarah Frey joined U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin at Scott Air Force Base for the unveiling of EPA’s Feed It Onward Pilot Program.

This pilot program, the first of several being launched as part of the EPA’s America 250 Agenda, is intended to divert otherwise nutritious food from being lost or wasted and sent to a landfill. As part of the pilot launch, Frey Farms donated two semitruck loads of fresh watermelon and sweet corn from their local Illinois harvests, that otherwise might not have been sold this fall, to the 13,100-person work force at Scott Air Force Base and their family members.

Food waste comprises almost 14 percent of municipal solid waste disposed of in landfills. Diverting this waste will not only help reduce that figure, but it will also ensure those nobly serving in our armed services, and their families, have access to nutritious, locally grown foods, consistent with the administration’s Make America Healthy Again objectives.

“Nearly one third of America’s food is lost or wasted before it ever reaches our tables. Thirty-one percent of our food supply goes unsold or uneaten—and 85 percent of that surplus lands in the trash. As a lifelong produce farmer, I’ve had a front row seat to this unfortunate reality. Feed It Onward is a commitment to ensure that no harvest is wasted and every hero is nourished.

Through Administrator Zeldin’s hard work in launching this program, the Trump Administration is reaffirming its commitment to reducing food waste and loss and improving our nation's nutrition. Together, we can turn surplus into strength and build a food system that truly honors America’s heroes — our farmers and our service members.

I thank President Trump, and Administrator Zeldin for partnering with farmers and bringing attention to this important issue,” said Sarah Frey

EPA’s transformative Feed it Onward Pilot Program is aligned with AFPI’s Farmers First Driving Responsible Nutrition Policy principles, which maintain that responsible nutrition policy entails the government and private sector working collaboratively to reduce food loss and waste, including through creative efforts such as those announced today. Reducing food loss and waste represents opportunities to 1) possibly increase farm income, and 2) provide American families with more nutritious whole foods.