Center for Food Conservation and Waste Reduction

In the U.S., 30-40% of food that is produced is wasted, and households waste more food than at any other step of the supply chain. At the same time, 44 million adults and children face hunger. We want to help change that! To do that, our Center will work with communities to co-create solutions to reduce food waste to improve nutrition security, health equity, and environmental sustainability. Ultimately, we want to create a food system that is sustainable for all – not just a few.

Contact Us

Center for Food Conservation and Waste Reduction
403 Mitch Daniels Blvd.
Krannert Bldg.
West Lafayette, IN 47907

Email us: cfcwr@purdue.edu

An introduction to the Center for Food Conservation and Waste Reduction (CFCWR)

The Purdue University College of Agriculture’s Department of Agricultural Economics has received a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The grant will fund a research and Extension project titled “Designing Co-Created Solutions to Improve Nutrition Security, Health Equity, and Environmental Sustainability.”

Brenna Ellison, professor of agribusiness management and undergraduate program coordinator in the Department of Agricultural Economics, is the project’s principal investigator. The new funding will create the Purdue Center for Food Conservation and Waste Reduction, a vital research vehicle for Ellison and her longtime collaborator, Melissa Pflugh Prescott, assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition at Case Western Reserve University.

Ellison and Prescott have expertise in the interrelated topics of improving diet and health outcomes while also reducing food waste. Their main goal will be to accelerate meeting national food loss and waste reduction targets by engaging underrepresented young adults, private and public sectors, and households in improving nutrition security and health equity.

Read the Press Release