Food Waste
Food waste is one of the most overlooked acts we all partake in, yet it has such a massive impact on so many aspects of our lives. There are so many issues that come from wasting food including the environment, sociological issues or simply hitting our wallets. It’s something that we can’t continue to ignore and have to change our ways if we want to live more sustainably.
The Scary Facts
Food waste may not be evident to many, but it’s happening all the time. Just think about when you got to a restaurant. I’m sure many of you have heard stories of people who worked at restaurants or seen first hand of how much food waste can happen on a daily basis. From people leaving food on their plates to the restaurant itself throwing out food that was not able to be eaten that day.
Let’s get into some of the statistics that may surprise you. According to the USDA, approximately 1/5 of America’s food ends up as waste every year. That equates to an estimated 130 pounds of food per person and a total value of $31 billion lost. I knew that the amount of money we lose each year because of food lost was high, but that is much higher than I ever expected.
What’s worse is that the EPA estimates that 12.5 % of all solid waste is from food scraps. Of that percentage, only a very small part of it is actually recovered. The major problem with so much waste product ending up in landfills is that it generates dangerous methane gas. Not only is methane much more of a potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, but landfills are one of the leading causes of it’s generation. Because of the uncontrolled nature of a landfill, methane gas is much more likely to form than if it were diverted into a controlled manner.
The Biggest Culprits
It’s tough to really point the finger at anyone about this issue since it seems like everybody is taking part in making this a huge issue, but the commercial and retail food industry are massive producers of food waste. This includes restaurants, conveniences/grocery stores and food suppliers. Some of the main ways that food can be lost prior to even getting to our homes and the major ways that make me upset include discarding of imperfect foods, transportation and strange unwritten rules. Well actually, these can be the same reason that we discard food at our homes.
No So Perfect
We are actually the biggest reasons that so much food goes to waste. So many people demand that our food looks picture perfect and will not accept any less. The reason so many in the food industry discard of foods, in particular fruits and vegetables, is for this very reason. The nicer it looks, the more consumers are inclined to buy. This practice needs to stop as it makes absolutely no sense. I have tasted so many foods that many not look the nicest, but tastes really great.
Why the Long Trip?
When food is transported for thousands of miles, there are bound to be some loses along the way. Not only does the transportation of food generate tons of greenhouse gases, but it also causes more food waste. It makes sense that the longer food is just sitting in a truck, the most waste is going to be generated.
Who ever said…?
Who ever said that all the extra food that a restaurant or nearly expire food a grocery store has to be tossed in the trash? This goes back to strange “rules” that many food businesses follow that say they must throw these items in the trash. I just don’t get this, why not provide these perfectly good food items to local food kitchens and homeless shelters to give perfectly good food to people that need it. Even if these organizations don’t want to take food, why not try to sell it at a discounted price? Regardless of where it goes, there is no reason it needs to end up in the trash.
What to do
There are so many ways we can help in reducing the amount of food waste that is generated.
Buying Locally
I have given so many reason to buy local produce and this is yet another one. Local farmers only need to transport their foods over short distances and getting it to the consumer in shorter periods of time. This means that far less food will be wasted. It is also typical that local farmers sell produce that is really ripe for a discounted price. Foods transported across the country can’t do this since the food wouldn’t make it on the long trip.
Plan Wisely
When we plan before going shopping for food, it allows us to more precisely determine how much food we need. This means that less food will be wasted since we weren’t able to use it. Even if you do buy locally, it can be easy to buy foods that we simply aren’t going to use.
Order Appropriately
Whenever we go into restaurants, we order way more food that we can eat and end up not eating most of it. Not only can you save money, but it will reduce the amount of waste restaurants are generating. Instead of ordering that appetizer that was not really necessary, order just a main dish that you can eat. Also, don’t feel obligated to buy a dessert even after you are already full.
Compost
Take up composting. As I mentioned above, in a controlled environment like a compost bin, far less greenhouse gases are emitted. It also gives you a great fertilizer that you can put in your own garden.
Nobody is perfect and we all waste food at times. By becoming more aware of the situation, we reduce as much food waste as possible. Also be sure to check out this great article by Tristram Stuart about The Scandal of Food Waste.
Comments
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October 1st, 2009Trackback from : All Things Eco Blog Carnival Volume Seventy Two » Focus Organic.com
I agree with taking up composting, this can make a huge difference alone. Thanks for the article and the recommendation of “The Scandal of Food Waste” looks interesting.
Wow I didn’t know the problem was this big. Those are some scary stats. I guess we live in a wasteful society. I try to recycle everything I can, but since I live in an apartment, composting is not a practical option. I do feel bad about all the food that ends up in the garbage.
Thanks for this great post. It’s an environmental problem that doesn’t seem to get enough attention. Like you say, planning is key! It’s easy to end up buying more food than you can use. @Laptop_Carrying_Case, more cities are starting to offer curbside composting…hopefully it will come to your area soon.
Those stats are mind boggling. I didn’t know it was that bad. Thanks for the information.
Food is thrown out partly to avoid liability. But, I think many shelters and food kitchens would be happy to be able to use their common sense and take left overs when they are still good.
One thing I do at restaurants sometimes is to ask for a to-go box at the start of my meal, divide the food in half and take it home. Most restaurants give far more food than most of us should eat at a time anyway.
I like your site. Thanks again.
Susan
Really a bad situation.. I terribly feel sorry when food gets wasted.. I try to avoid this situation. Ordering appropriately is the best solution when your eating outside. Many people try to order all the food at once.
I think one should order according to the food needed. If the ordered food is not enough you can always add your order.. atleast you’ll have an idea about the quantity.
Jeez! We don’t even know what it is like to be hungry…do we. In our developed countries, food comes off as more of a right than a privelige. Sad, considering over half the planet is absolutely starving as we waste all of this stuff.
I also had no idea that this problem was that bad. I always hear about restaurants throwing out a lot of food, but I didn’t know this problem exists across the country. I guess people are just too picky and want everything as fresh as possible. Other times it is just poor planning when shopping or when deciding how big a meal to prepare.
We’re a lucky we got a lot of foods compare with Africa and some Asia country But the problem it will come to us if we don’t plan wisely . I agreed with the author some of the ideas , especially buy only what we need …
Those are some surprising statistics, personally I think food waste is a serious problem, business’s for the most part try to be efficient with their money and budget, but in my opinion they also need to learn how to be efficient with their food, and not be as wasteful.
What about buffet’s? Think of how much food is wasted at those restaurants compared to others… perhaps a better solution for a buffet would be a weighted buffet, meaning you pay by the weight.
Till then,
Jean
it’s a terrible situation, millions of people r dying just for not having food, but on the other hand people waste food in a huge amount. Here in asia we can see this thing mostly in marriage ceremonies where people just want to show that they have never eat food or will never eat food after this, and after eating a small amount they waste all the remaining food
and sorry for my bad english, thanks.
Good article. It is always amazing to see statistics on how much we waste when there are so many people going hungry. I think if everyone did just one little thing differently we could save an amazing amount of resources on this earth.
We have been composting for a few years now, and i agree, it is important to be aware of what we are doing to our environment. It is amazing to consider how much we waste, when so many go hungry. What a world we live in!
Here in the Austin area, you can go volunteer on farms and get free/discounted produce. They also sell the “not so pretty” looking fruits and veggies at a cheaper price. I try to buy the cheaper stuff because a) I’m cheap =) and b) if it doesn’t get bought, it goes to waste.
Farms like this are everywhere, I just wish they would become more mainstream. They can be cheaper than a grocery store, and you can actually see where your food is coming from.
This is a huge problem! Society is extremely wasteful – Since we recently moved we now cook all our own meals and left over are either taken for lunch the next day or fed to the neighbors chickens. And their waste is used on our vege patch. We hate seeing our food go to waste!
Using food waste as compost is one way to deal with this problem. More importantly we need to plan better and prevent food waste.
^^ Sorry about the typos – embarrassing at best
it is simply amazing to realise how much we as human waste on food.
it is simply amazing to realise how much we as human waste on food.
I can never understand why people want fruit out of season. Here in the UK out of season apples taste terrible and have come a long way. English apples in season are great. The same applies to strawberries.
Shocking to see that 1/5 of our food becomes waste, I would not have guessed that amount. I believe that living green and awareness is the only answer. Raising your kids to care about tomorrow will change our future, as I know in the 70’s when I was raised, there was no talk of conservation…just consume, consume!
We can begin the green revolution from home by stop wasting food. As for the restaurants, it would be good practice if they distribute the left over to some feed the hungry kind of organization on a regular basis.
One thing that I do is try and go to the grocery store more frequently and only buying what I need when I need it. This involves living closer to a grocery store, but I chose where I live so that I could walk to more places. This not only helps with food waste, but with environmental waste in general.
I started doing this when I was in Europe and I didn’t have a car or a large refrigerator to put stuff in. Although my cupboard is relatively empty, I like being able to have the freshest food possible each day and deciding what I want at the time. Although it may take a while to get used to, I think the advantages are many.
Don’t show this to my grandma. She flips if anyone leaves anything on their plate. But because of her, I have always finished what I have set aside to eat.