Food Waste Disposal and Reduction

The article “Waste Not” by Elizabeth Royte was published in March of 2016 in National Geographic Magazine. It depicts the wastefulness of the food industry and shows the path of food from field to consumers’ homes. During the article the story focuses on Tristram Stuart; a food utilizing activist and naturalist, who is gathering wasted food for a food conservation event for the public. Stuart visits many different farms and markets to receive food that is not desirable. Throughout the world nearly one third of food that is grown is thrown away or wasted due to consumer needs and wants. This means that because there is a need and want for good quality food products that not only meet food eatable standards but also

With the seemingly unstoppable growth of the world’s population and a projected global population of nine billion by 2050, the matter of whether or not there will be enough food to support the world’s populace is brought into question (Parfitt, et al., 2010). However, amid the concern for an adequate food supply, there is an immense amount of food waste produced by the world, including the United States. In fact, “according to the Natural Resources Defense Council as much as 40 percent of all food produced in the United States never gets eaten and typically ends up in the landfills or goes unharvested in the field “(King, 2015).

While everyone may love to go out and enjoy a fine meal with friends and family, most will never stop to think the process of how the food came about, or the production thereof. John Oliver’s piece on “Food Waste” outlines all the problems of food waste and how they can impact society, animals, nature, and even the farmers who harvest the produce. America and its businesses should try to decrease the amount of food being wasted. By doing so, not only are we a contributing factor to help reduce waste, save time and money, but we are also aiding the less-fortunate in a society, while still saving natural resources and the planet as a whole.

Food waste is an environmental, economic, and ethical problem that can lead to less calorie intake and unnecessary damage of our assets. Individual behavior can redesign food waste at home and lead to bigger changes in the ecosystem. The problem is Americans throw out more food than glass, paper, and plastic. Also about 25% of food grown, processed, and transported in the US will never be consumed. When food is disposed in a landfill it rots and becomes a significant source of methane— a potent greenhouse gas with 21 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide.

“Globally, we throw out about 1.3 billion tons of food a year, or a third of all the food that we grow” (Sengupta). In the United States 33% is from agriculture, 11% from postharvest, 10% from processing, 8% from retail, and 39% from consumption. Consumers are the majority of our waste, but there's not a lot of ways to prevent this.

In the U.S., we are blessed with a sufficient amount of resources, especially food. Food is literally at everyone’s fingertips; people can order food efficiently off of their cellphones, and due to this abundance, it has caused many Americans to be very wasteful with their food. According to feedingamerica.org, “An estimated 25 – 40% of food grown, processed and transported in the US will never be consumed.” Not only that, but rotting food causes more greenhouses gases to be released in the air

A European or North American consumer wastes almost 100 kilograms of food annually, which is more than his or her weight. Reducing the amount of food that is produced in the United States has been a great challenge for decades for the American Society. One of the great challenges that is preventing the solution to this issue is that the major part of the society is not recognizing the effect of this issue. Similarly, in his article “Can We End America’s Massive Food Waste Problem?”, the author Mr. Karim Chrobog discusses how aware are the American people on matter of food waste and the major reasons why the wastage of food is growing fast in the United States. Chrobog explains that different advertisements have changed how consumers choose their food making them to be picky on how they get their food products. Furthermore, he presents some statics that explains the food wasted in the United States is much larger than any other country in the world. In addition, he claims that expire date labels and the food not meeting the consumer standards in the stores are the major causes of the food waste that is happening today. He demonstrates that technology can be used a means of solution to combat the issue of food waste by presenting an app that has helped in the reduction of food waste by cooperating restaurants and stores with charity organizations feeding hungry people the food that was going to be wasted. Consequently, he stated that people

Now, more than ever, people are wasteful of the one thing we require most; food. We dispose of food at such a rate that it literally becomes waste which others

A growing issue about food waste is at hand in Canada, and citizens should seek methods in order to reduce this. Personally I think people are blindfolded as to how much they are contributing to this matter and the future consequences they may face. At the rate this issue is escalating it is affecting the planet adversely, therefore efforts should be made by each individual. To reduce food waste, it is necessary to be organized which could be done so by preserving, shopping better and visibility.

There are billions of people struggling every day to have enough to eat, and billions of tons of food being tossed in the garbage, food waste is gaining increasing awareness as a serious environmental and economic issue. Research shows that about 60 million metric tons of food is wasted a year in the United States, with an estimated value of $162 billion. About 32 million tons of it end up in landfills, at a cost of about $1.5 billion a year to local government this economic crisis is worldwide! My research estimates that a third of all the food produced in the world is never consumed, and the total cost of that food waste could be as high as $400 billion a year. The food discarded by retailers and consumers in the most developed countries would be more than enough to feed all of the world’s hungry people, but it is not just those countries that have problems with food waste, it is also an issue in African countries like South Africa. The problem is expected to grow worse as the world’s population increases, unless actions are taken to reduce the waste. Food waste is not only a social cost, but it contributes to growing environmental problems like global warming, experts say, with the production of food consuming vast quantities of water, fertilizer and land. The fuel that is burned to process, refrigerate and transport it also adds to the environmental cost. Most food waste is thrown away in landfills, where it decomposes and emits methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

1.3 billion tons of food is wasted every year on the planet, which means that almost half of the food production in the entire world is wasted each year. Food waste appears when food products are being thrown away without having been consumed by anyone. Thus, food wastes can arise directly from the consumer’s house, whenever people forget to eat the food and it starts to rot and they are obliged to throw it, or it may be a result of food losses during the production and transportation processes. In addition, over 30% of the fruits and vegetables in North America are not even displayed in grocery stores because they are not pretty enough. Food waste represents a major issue in today’s world where, inter alia, climate changes are noticeable and

Food is most important and precious for us. If there was no food people would not be able to alive, then why are the people wasting food around the world every day. In the past decade, food waste has received increased attention on both academic and societal levels. As a cause of negative economic, environmental and social effects, food waste is considered to be one of the sustainability issues that needs to be addressed. The statistic of food waste is gigantic. Across the globe people currently, produce approximately four billion metric tons of food per year and waste around 30-50% of all food produces (Butler 1). Food is wasted throughout the food supply chains, from initial agricultural production down to final household consumption. Usually five system boundaries were distinguished in the food supply chains, those are agricultural production, post-harvest handling and storage, processing, distribution, and consumption. In developing and developed countries food is to a high extent wasted, which mean that it is thrown away, even if it is still suitable for the people consumption. Significant food loss and waste do, however, also occur earlier in the food supply chain in the industrialized regions. In the developing countries food is mostly lost during the production to processing stages of the food supply chain. Moreover, we live in a world of scare resources. This research paper is an attempt to shed light on this concern.

In America, we are constantly surrounded by abundance. Food is a prevalent waste item in the United States. Most people do not think about the resources it took to produce, transport, and prepare the food they throw away. Our food waste is not actually just trash; it is the key to human survival. Ordinary consumers can change the future with one small action: to stop wasting food. Actions at the individual level can decrease food waste and feed those in need. Twenty five percent of purchased food is thrown away. (TED) Often this is because food has spoiled, but it can be for other reasons such as oversupply, misread labels, or individual consumer shopping and eating habits. http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3347e/i3347e.pdf

Food waste is a serious economic, social, and environmental issue. For most people, the true value of food may not be taken into account as food is typically considered to be cheap and readily available. As a result, good and edible surplus food gets thrown out into waste bins instead of being given to people who need it the most. Unfortunately, food waste is a food security issue that gets ignored by so many in affluent households (Couto, 2017). The uneven distribution of food is problematic because it encourages the wealthy to over-consume and waste. Meanwhile, the poor struggle with food insecurity. One of the many possible approaches to combating food waste is through food sharing practices. Foodsharing.de, a food reduction initiative based in Germany, is an excellent example of this. It recognizes the influence consumers have in the food system and therefore works towards lessening the demand for food by building a sustainable economy of sharing. In order to reduce food waste, consumers must change their attitudes towards food consumption and adopt holistic habits that work towards the well- being of the planet and its people.

Food is an essential part of a person’s day, but for some Americans, it is an everyday struggle to feed themselves and their families. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 1 in 6 people face hunger. Most of these people are homeless and have limited access to food despite the large amounts of food available in restaurants and supermarkets. In an article by Feeding America, they stated that “An estimated 25 – 40% of food grown, processed and transported in the US will never be consumed.” This means that all these products from large supermarkets are mass produced only to end up in the trash. Much of this food is thrown out because it has reached its expiry date, thus it is important for the government to create a policy which mandates hypermarkets to donate food that is past its expiry date in order to feed the homeless.