Frequent Questions about the U.S. EPA Excess Food Opportunities Map
The U.S. EPA Excess Food Opportunities Map supports nationwide diversion of excess food from landfills through the identification and display of establishment-specific information about potential generators and recipients of excess food. Through analysis of the data presented in the map, users may be able to identify infrastructure gaps, assess the feasibility of developing new recipient facilities and identify alternatives to landfill disposal. If this webpage does not answer your question, please contact SMMFood@epa.gov.
On this page:
Map Background
1. Who is the intended audience for the map?
The intended audiences for the map are state and local governments, Tribes, food recovery organizations, users of excess food as a feedstock and generators of excess food.
2. How does EPA define excess food for the map?
For the map, the phrase “excess food” generally refers to food—whether processed, semi-processed, or raw—that is not used for its intended purpose and is managed in a variety of ways, such as donation to feed people, creation of animal feed, composting, anaerobic digestion, or sending to landfills or combustion facilities. EPA often refers to this as “wasted food”. The studies that EPA relies on in its methodology do not distinguish between food and inedible parts (e.g., pits, rinds, bones) (such as those discarded in restaurant kitchens or during processing), so inedible parts are included in EPA’s estimates. Furthermore, EPA did not include the residential and agricultural sectors, which can also generate excess food, in the map.
3. Does the map provide an estimate of total excess food in the United States?
No. The map provides estimates of excess food generated at the establishment level based on a set of assumptions specific to each type of excess food generator (e.g., hotel, school). These assumptions do not address existing waste diversion activities that establishments might already be performing. You can access EPA estimates of excess food nationwide via EPA's Wasted Food Reports, including manufacturing and processing, retail, food service and residential sectors.
4. Does the map provide estimates of recipient capacity for excess food?
No. However, in some cases, the map provides information about types of materials accepted and contact information that can be used to learn more about a recipient’s operations.
5. Can I download data from the map?
Yes. You can download data in two ways. In the map interface, you can download the data for records displayed for the selected layer and map view through the attribute table. You can also download the map’s complete national dataset including all generators, recipients, refrigerated warehousing and storage, and communities with source separated organics from EPA's Geoplatform. You may need additional software to view the dataset. Refer to EPA's Free Readers and Viewers webpage. Further detail about how to download data is available in the User Guide for the U.S. EPA Excess Food Opportunities Map.
6. Will the map be updated in the future?
Yes, EPA plans to continue to provide updated versions of the map. EPA will make updates to data and generation methodologies periodically based on data and resource allocation availability.
EPA released the current version of the map, Version 3.1, in March 2025. EPA posted the previous version of the map, Version 3.0, in July 2023. EPA will post announcements of updates on the U.S. EPA Excess Food Opportunities Map webpage.
Technical Specifications
1. Where can I get more information about the data and methodology supporting the map?
The technical methodology provides this information.
2. How many and what type of establishments are included in the map?
Over 960,000 potential generators of excess food in the following nine categories appear in the map:
- Correctional facilities.
- Educational institutions.
- Food banks, food pantries and soup kitchens.
- Food manufacturers and processors.
- Food wholesale and retail.
- Healthcare facilities.
- Hospitality establishments.
- Restaurants and food services.
- Farmers markets.
Additionally, the map includes almost 15,000 potential recipients of excess food (i.e., food banks, food pantries and soup kitchens; composting facilities; and anaerobic digestion facilities). There are also roughly 600 refrigerated warehouse and storage facilities in the map, and over 200 communities with source separated organics programs. Additional information and the full list of NAICS codes associated with excess food generators is available in the technical methodology.
3. Why were layers added from USDA’s Food Environment Atlas and Food Access Research Atlas?
These data layers from USDA can be used in concert with excess food estimates to drive policy decisions, investments, and actions to feed people.
Layers from USDA’s Food Environment Atlas provide data on food insecurity and food assistance, including participation in programs such as SNAP, WIC, and the National School Lunch Program. USDA’s Food Access Research Atlas contains census-tract-level data on food access within different mileage ranges and with or without vehicle access.
The map allows users to view food assistance, food security, and food access data, alongside excess food generation data to help facilitate economic investment, policy development, infrastructure improvement or action to get food to people who need it. For example, users can view an area of interest and use the map to answer questions such as:
- Are there low rates of food access?
- Are there food banks nearby?
- Are there establishments, such as schools or grocery stores, generating excess food that could be rescued and redistributed?
EPA anticipates that the combination of excess food estimates, food assistance, food insecurity, and food access data could help users identify geographic areas where appropriate investment, infrastructure, policy and action can increase food access, improve system efficiencies and keep wholesome, nutritious food in the human supply chain and out of landfills.
4. What are the sources of the data?
The data comes from public and commercially available sources including Dun & Bradstreet (DnB), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Census, Hunger Free America, state websites and studies, municipal and county websites, BioCycle, Food Waste Reduction Alliance, peer-reviewed articles, and internal EPA databases, among other sources. For more detail, please refer to the map's technical methodology.
5. How did EPA generate the estimates of excess food for each establishment?
EPA conducted a literature review to identify studies that used formulas to estimate excess food generation rates in each industry and adopted multiple formulas for various sectors, resulting in a high and low excess food estimate for most establishments. The data required as input for the formulas were common business statistics, such as revenue or employee count, and obtained primarily from DnB, NCES, and DHS. EPA details the formulas, their sources and their inputs in the technical methodology.
6. Why is there no excess food estimate available for some establishments?
EPA based the excess food generation estimates on equations that require common business statistics that EPA obtained from several sources (commercially and publicly available). In limited cases, the sources did not contain necessary establishment-specific business statistics, which means EPA was not able to calculate an excess food estimate for every establishment. In these cases, while the establishment is included in the map, the estimate field is blank. The map provides an estimate for roughly 90% percent of mapped establishments.
7. Why might an establishment be missing from the map?
An establishment may be missing from the map for any of the following reasons:
a. The establishment may not be associated with the NAICS codes and industries chosen for the map (access the full list as part of the technical methodology).
b. The establishment was not included in the data EPA acquired from DnB, DHS, NCES, Hunger Free America, and USDA at the time that EPA downloaded data from these sources.
c. The facility did not appear on lists or in databases that EPA, state or local governments, or industry associations maintain, or it did not appear in internet searches.
8. How accurate are the establishment-specific estimates of excess food generation rates?
EPA based the estimates on common business statistics taken primarily from DnB, the DHS, and NCES, and combined with methodologies that use generation factors based on limited measured data which ranges in age. The estimates do not account for any actual diversion activity that the establishment or facility may be implementing, such as donation, composting, etc. You can access more information about the limitations of the methodology in the map's technical methodology.
9. Can I send in accurate, measured information for my company which can be used to update the map?
No. EPA intends for the map to reflect a standard methodology, not as a reference reflecting a mix of actual and estimated activity. EPA intends for people to use the map, in combination with other publicly available tools and resources, to support excess food diversion.
10. What changes did EPA make in Version 3.1 of the map?
Version 3.1 includes updates to the food banks, farmers markets, composting facilities, and anaerobic digestion facilities layers, as well as updates to the USDA data layers.
- EPA obtained data on food banks, food pantries, and soup kitchens from Hunger Free America, which dramatically increased the number of establishments in that layer. EPA considers food banks, food pantries, and soup kitchens to be both potential generators and recipients of excess food.
- EPA updated the farmers markets layer with the most recent data from USDA's Local Food Directories.
- EPA added composting facilities from the Disaster Debris Recovery Tool to create one consistent list of composting facilities (which now includes some mulching facilities). EPA fixed mapped location errors for some composting facilities in Version 3.1.
- EPA added additional stand-alone and on-farm anaerobic digestion facilities to the AD layer.
- EPA added layers from the USDA's Food Access Research Atlas.
Version 3.1 did not include any updates to most excess food generator data nor excess food estimates. The overall number of generators increased slightly to over 960,000 from Version 3.0 to 3.1. The overall number of recipients increased significantly to almost 15,000, mostly due to expanded data on food banks, food pantries, and soup kitchens. For more information on data sources and numbers and types of establishments mapped, refer to the technical methodology.
