Food banks may get boost from new law protecting donors from lawsuits

As thousands of Kentuckians struggle to feed their families, nonprofits hope a new law will encourage supermarkets to donate food they typically throw away by shielding them from being sued if someone gets sick after eating their donations.

There have been virtually no lawsuits filed over someone getting sick from consuming donated food, but fear of legal action has still stifled donations, said Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles, who launched an initiative last year that led to the "Food Immunity Bill."

The law, which goes into effect June 29, protects groceries, farmers and other entities that donate food to nonprofit organizations from civil or criminal liability as long as there was no intentional misconduct.

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"We felt this was a problem and that we can do better," said Quarles, whose initiative included a task force of business and community leaders. "So we proposed simple language that gives broad immunity to those who donate. It's going to be a win-win situation."

Tamara Sandberg, executive director of the Kentucky Association of Food Banks, said she's heard about pounds upon pounds of food being thrown into padlocked trash bins because retailers were worried someone might eat it, get sick and then sue.

"There's more than enough food to feed every man, woman and child in Kentucky," she said. "The problem is connecting the struggle to put food on the table with the food that is available."

The food immunity bill, which passed unanimously in both chambers of Kentucky's legislature, was a "very easy sale," Sandberg said. A federal "Good Samaritan" law already provides legal protections for food donors, but Kentucky's immunity law will give retailers more confidence.

The new law also will help protect farmers from being sued if volunteers called "gleaners" get hurt while gathering leftover food on their land, she said. Gleaners donate the food they collect, but some farmers have been wary of permitting them to gather crops on their property over concerns about lawsuits.

Sandberg hopes this new law will lead to more donations of perishable items like meat and vegetables.

"Despite the generosity of Kentuckians, we are still struggling to keep up with the demand for food assistance," she said. "Perishable items are harder to get because of food safety concerns."

In Louisville, the Dare to Care Food Bank regularly visits retail grocers to pick up truckloads of food that used to be thrown away, spokesman Stan Siegwald said. Over the past year, the organization was able to distribute over 21 million pounds of food.

Although Dare to Care has managed to maintain a steady stream of donations, Siegwald echoed Sandberg's hope that the immunity law will lead to more donations of healthy, perishable food, which is "extremely valuable" to families in need.

The approval of the food immunity bill was a big victory for the Kentucky Hunger Initiative, but Quarles said the initiative is still exploring other ways to reduce food insecurity. The issues they're examining include how to handle unpaid debt for children's school lunches.

Food insecurity in Kentucky was reduced by 1 percent over the last year, Quarles said. But there's still work to be done in the commonwealth, where approximately one in six Kentuckians and one in five schoolchildren are food insecure.

"The face of hunger in Kentucky is one that's hard to define because there are so many causes of it," he said. "I'm blessed to represent a state that has an abundance of food ... and I find it appalling that so many Kentuckians suffer from food insecurity."

Contact reporter Morgan Watkins at 502-875-5136 or mwatkins@courier-journal.com.