Every year, Santa Barbara County residents chuck an estimated 2,177.74 tons of edible food in the trash; much of that winds up at the Tajiguas Landfill, where it’s composted and converted into methane gas and then electricity. Since January 2022, an estimated 510.417 tons have been diverted from the landfill and donated to a myriad of nonprofit “food rescue” organizations such as the Foodbank or Veggie Rescue. This is all part of a state law that went into effect in 2022 — SB 1383 — to encourage food rescue, feed the hungry, and keep edible food out of state landfills.
Santa Barbara County’s Food Rescue Effort Gets Extended Two Years
