Dear Chairman Brandon Scholz,

With hunger in the world today at an all-time high, I find it appalling that restaurants and supermarkets are responsible for up to 15 billion pounds of untouched food products per year. A significant portion of this food is still usable and fit to be consumed, yet it finds its way into dumpsters instead of hungry mouths.

The excess that the food industry wastes every year could very well be put toward feeding those in need. I am saddened to hear that perfectly nutritious food is simply dumped into garbage cans when it could be used to feed people who have to constantly worry about where their next meal will come from. This is especially disheartening when you consider all of the children who are suffering from hunger.

I am writing to ask that, as Chairman of the Food Industry Association, you create incentives for these food service providers to donate their excess food to homeless shelters and soup kitchens. These organizations always welcome donations, and could stand to benefit greatly if restaurants and markets gave even just a small amount of their leftover food.

Please use your influence to help eliminate America's hunger problem. Small steps can mean huge accomplishments.

Thank you for your time.