NY Lawmakers seek to put extra food to a better use

Some local lawmakers are trying to put the food that New Yorkers throw away to better use.

In a city where more than a million people do not have enough food, there is actually no shortage of extra food. Reports shownearly one third of the waste in New York's landfills is food waste.

City Councilman Rafael Espinal has a plan to get the city's extra food into the hands of the hungry. He is proposing a bill that would require the city to create a website where prospective food donors, like supermarkets and restaurants, could post about excess or unsellable food. Then, food rescue organizations could arrange to pick it up and deliver it to New Yorkers in need.

"I hope that this bill would feed hungry New Yorkers, and get better quality food to the 60-percent of New Yorkers that are going to bed hungry every night," Espinal said.

Espinal said the program would be worth the investment upfront. And while he didn't quote a number, he said it wouldn't cost much at all.

"In the long run, that cost will actually turn into savings for the city," he said.

Espinal said that is because the city would no longer have to dish out money to fill food pantry inventories. He said he hopes to see the bill in action by the end of the year.