Edible food recovery is part of the implementation of California’s legislation (SB 1383) addressing climate pollutants and wasted food. To reduce food waste and help address food insecurity, SB 1383 requires that by 2025 California recovers 20% of edible food that would otherwise go to waste and redistribute it to feed people in need. Californians send 11.2 billion pounds of food to landfills each year, some of which was still fresh enough to have been recovered. In 2018, 4.3 million Californians (10.8% of California's population) did not have enough to eat. By May 2020, that number doubled to 9.2 million (23% of California's population). As part of SB 1383, surplus food still safe for people to eat will instead go to local food recovery organizations and services to help feed those in need. More information is available on the CalRecycle website and in the CalRecycle Edible Food Recovery FAQs.

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Edible food generators (EFGs) can donate food through Careit! Careit is a food rescue app and website that makes it easy for businesses to donate surplus food directly to local food recovery organizations (FROs). To get started, create a free account through the dashboard portal or app. Donations can then be posted as surplus food becomes available, or donations can be scheduled ahead of time.