How To Food Insecurity

Have you thought about how much food is wasted? Just think about your supper last night did you throw any food away if you did have you ever thought about where it goes or what happens to it? Many people don’t realize that there is a lot of food that is thrown away every year. Not only do people in their homes throw away food but grocery stores also throw out a lot of food too. “Most people believe that grocery stores should donate their food instead of throwing it away but the reason why many stores don’t donate their food is because many stores either don’t want to get sued or many grocery stores don’t know that they should be donating it.” ( Jacobs)

Food is simply too good to waste. And while the loss of some food is inevitable, the amount of food Americans waste everyday has reached an all time high, and still continues to grow. The process by which food is produced uses 10% of the national energy budget, 50% of U.S. land, and 80% of the freshwater in the United States. (Gunders, 2012). Yet, 40% or 133 billion pounds of the food grown in this country goes to waste every year (Buzby, 2014). Reducing food losses by just 15% would be enough to feed more than 25 million Americans every year, when one in six Americans lack a secure supply of food to their tables (Gunders, 2012). Schools are one of the largest contributors to plate waste. A study by Richard Cohen reveals that plate waste accounts

The city of Dallas has been facing an issue of rising food insecurity for many years now. In fact, it ranks on a national level among the places in the country facing this same issue. Many children in Dallas Independent School District go day-to-day unsure of whether they will eat. This kind lifestyle greatly affects every day activities and personal health. Schools in the DISD provide free breakfast and lunch for most of the kids that struggle with this issue, however, there is nothing the district can do during the summer months while classes are out. The Dr. Pepper-Snapple Group would like to propose a solution to tackle this issue over the summer through the “A Summer without Hunger” project. We are requesting half of the funds necessary from the Dallas Chamber of Commerce

One in seven American households lack a proper amount of food to maintain a healthy lifestyle. United States waste 133 billion pounds of food yearly. In 2010, supermarkets and grocery stores in the US tossed out 43 billion pounds, or $46.7 billion worth of food. (Dvorsky) Even with so many people in need of food it is unbelievable the amount of food going to waste at markets and restaurants. Given how many people go hungry in the United States each year, it is clear that an immediate change is necessary. There are many reasons why grocery stores should be forced to donate there pre-expired food, mainly to help those people not getting enough food, to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills.

I was in fifth grade when one of my friends began showing up less and less. When I heard that she kept getting suspended for stealing food from other student’s lunch boxes, I did not think much of it. Now I realize, that she was experiencing poverty. Thirteen million children in America, live in a household without consistent access to enough food “Hunger Devastates Children (2010).” The most common reason of why children go hungry is due to the fact that their families can’t afford food. Food is a valuable asset to a child’s day. Giving children food is taking away their pain of hunger, and saving their family from worrying to having bread on the table, with their nutritious breakfast, healthy summer meals, and their lesson to their families on how to cook affordable meals “No Kid Hungry (2017).” The “No Kid Hungry” campaign is incredibly effective at ending childhood hunger by engaging the public to make it a priority, working to shine on the issue, and mobilizing a strong movement of individuals.

Believe it or not over 20 million children receive free or reduced price lunch each day at school in America. Less than half of them get breakfast, and only 10% have access to summer meal sites. Yes, even in America children and adults likewise have a limited food source or are starving. America has an abundance of food and every year 40% of the food in the USA is thrown out, that includes good food that could have been shared or donated. All this excess uneaten food could have fed at least 25 million Americans. As proud Americans we should work to decrease the amount of food wasted, and the amount of children and adults that go hungry each day.

The government is looking for solutions through programs like the USDA and the EPA. So many people go hungry, while many restaurants and grocery stores could donate extra food before it is spoiled. We harvest an excess of food that could somehow feed hungry people. Proper planning for food amounts and excess waste could help feed the hungry.

We as people probably don’t realize how much good food we throw away every day and how much of it lands in a landfill where so much of it goes to waste. So much of perfectly good food is being thrown away when it could go to someone who really needs it. Although I concede that the best buy and use by labels law is a big contributor to landfills, I still insist that people overbuying food is one of the biggest contributors to landfills.

Every day I sit at lunch and watch person after person throw away perfectly good food. Even I am guilty of throwing away food I did not want or food I was “too full” to possibly eat. Someone will take a container of yogurt or a sandwich out of their lunch bag, decide they don’t want it, and proceed to toss it into the black, wheeled trash cans. What runs through my mind when I witness and experience these wasteful habits is that people don’t understand how much perfectly eatable food ends up in the trash can every day. Food waste does not only occur in schools, food waste occurs in multiple environments, such as restaurants, grocery stores, and every day households. Food waste comes in all different forms as well, whether it is whole containers of salvageable snacks or scraps of food capable of utilization as compost. People don’t completely understand the ample amounts of food wasted every day, every month, and every year. Because of this lack of awareness and knowledge, the government should provide educational programs regarding food waste and teach alternative disposal methods, such as composting or recycling, to the general public. The government should also instill food waste prevention programs to make sure people aren’t throwing away perfectly good food because portions are too large or from poor buying habits.

Food waste in the United States is happening as we speak. There are many different factors that contribute to food waste, but one factor that is not really mentioned is food waste in schools. A research lead by Cohen Jf an Assistant Professor, Merrimack College; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health found that schools across the nation waste an estimated $1.2 billion of food each year, which is enough to give every man, woman, and child in Canada $33.33. In addition, nearly 37% of fresh fruits, 33% of vegetables, 44% of grains, and 32% of milk are wasted in schools (Smith). Furthermore, a study found that while children placed more fruits and vegetables on their trays - as required by the USDA mandates put in place in 2012 - they consumed fewer of them. The amount of food wasted increased by 56 percent, the researchers found. So, because of this regulation, students have to grab unwanted items from the cafeteria even though they do not want them, which is one of the main reason why many of the food products end up in the trash.

Imagine a piece of land around 24 times the size of California dedicated for farming crops and food. Now imagine all those food being thrown away and not eaten by people who are too full to care about the people going hungry every day. Not only does society ignore the problem of food waste, it constantly contributes to it. According to an article, “Curbing Food Waste Is Good for Business, the Environment, and Society”, 2.5 billion acres of land used for farming to grow food are wasted every year or about 1.3 billion tonnes (Lewis). Now think about the amount of food 18,000 times the weight of the eiffel tower gone with every 1 out of 9 facing starvation. Where do all the food go? Unfortunately, instead in hungry stomachs, it goes into our landfills which then produces methane contributing to the uprising issue of global warming (Dana). United States citizens need to reduce the amount of food waste by educating younger children to prevent poor habits and charge customers based on the amount of food wasted.

Students who can’t afford lunches can have some sort of food, instead of having no food.

The Obama Administration has set an aggressive goal to reduce 50% of food waste by 2030. Several states like California and Massachusetts as well as big cities like New York City have banned food waste from entering landfills. While this activism led by the USDA and EPA is admirable, it ignores an important factor in the long-term fight against food waste: schools. Reforming food environment in schools in terms of food wasting habits and quality of food will have the biggest impact towards the long-term campaign against food waste and mindful eating. As author of the book American Wasteland and founder of the website WastedFood.com, Jonathan Bloom makes the claim in his article “Schools Can Reduce Food Waste by Teaching Students the Value of Food” that activists and policymakers have ignored the impact that schools have had on America’s food waste problem. Not only that, Bloom suggests that the cafeteria should be treated as another classroom and that “helping kids avoid wasting food teaches not only nutrition, but ethics, environmentalism, economics, and responsibility”. Much of the food served at public schools is sub-par in all attributes, prioritizing convenience and cost. The USDA’s National School Lunch Program, which funds meals for more than 30 million kids, only reimburses about three dollars per meal, not including the costs of labor and energy. While this issue can be easily become political in the wake of Michelle Obama’s Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act, it is

Did you know that there are students who go hungry during the school day and it affects their learning skills. A lot of surrounding towns in my area are supported by the state to support low income families with free lunches at school. My town in Menahga has been compensated with funding from the state to help with these free and reduced lunch programs. Hunger in our country is a current social issue as it affects the entire population in some way. It effects everyone from either participation and receiving the benefits of the food or being on the other end of financially supporting programs privately or through state and federal taxes they pay. The School Lunch Program is one way to address the hunger issue among students in our area.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), food insecurity is “the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways” (USDA, 2017). It is household-level, not based on individuals, and is defined by a significant reduction or disruption of food consumption within a 12-month period, due to the household lacking money or other resources. (USDA, 2017)