How To Keep Food On Landfill

The USDA claims that each year, 25.9 million tons of America’s food is thrown away, the equivalent to a quarter of the total amount produced. Nationally, the wasted food is a damaging financial setback, amounting to $1 billion just to get rid of during a time of ascending food prices, nonetheless (Oliver, 2007). Food waste has skyrocketed since 1970 at an astonishing 50% increase rate, yet according to the FAO, one-sixth of America doesn’t get enough to eat.

One of the ways food is unnecessarily wasted is through the USDA’s grading of produce based on cosmetic value. Produce with cosmetic imperfections are valued at a lesser price and thus often farmers will not even make the effort to sell produce that has nothing wrong with it other than the fact that it is “ugly” (Glickman, 2015). Furthermore, businesses are required to throw out food that has passed its expiration date. However, expiration dates tend to be quite random and often have little truth to them (Glickman, 2015). They are simply to be used as estimates but end up adding to the amount of food waste. And all the food waste lands in landfills that cause the release of methane gas into the earth’s atmosphere. In fact, food waste which is categorized as organic waste is the primary source of methane gas (Baussan et. Al,

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.

“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.

As I look back on my life I think to myself how much food I have wasted. Maybe it was because it was spoiled or maybe I just didn't like how it tasted. All this waste adds up and all of it ends up in dumpsters or landfills. After reading “On Dumpster Diving” I have learned that America's waste is a problem and I now want to become a “. . . slightly less wasteful consumer” (61). If others plus myself learned to and understand how much food they waste our landfills may see a reduction in size. In reflecting back on this essay I have become aware of the kinds of waste I and the rest of society really produce. Furthermore, I have understood, become aware, and have tried to apply my knowledge of what I have learned from this essay into my daily

Have you ever stopped to question what happens after food waste ends up as landfill? The food waste breaks down into methane and carbon dioxide (greenhouse gases) which poses risks to our health if greater amounts are released. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated the carbon footprint of wasted food to be equivalent to 3.3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. Further, the storing of food waste occupies a lot of land - agricultural land. Food waste fills the MSG six times! Not only is land utilized for the production of crops now unavailable, the habitats of animals are also taken up, leading to a loss of biodiversity. Because of our careless and wasteful behavior, animals are dying. It is a

From the moment in time which marked the emergence of the human race, food has been an integral part of society. It has served as more than just sustenance aiding in the formation of cultures, civilizations, and technologies. However as the human mind evolved, so too did views on the value of food. The degradation of these views has resulted in between 1.3 and 2.2 billion tons of food being wasted globally each year (Finn et al. 2). Most Americans are guilty of having to thrown away a forgotten piece of food that has spoiled, but the problem is far bigger than that. Annually thirty-four million tons of food waste finds its way into American landfills (Buzby et al. 2). Unfortunately a majority of American citizens are ignorant to this fact. These citizens perceive the food they seen thrown away as the lost of a few dollar at the most and therefore not a serious problem. However, a large number of the United States’ social, economic, and environmental issues which need to be understood and addressed can be attributed to food waste.

Was that you that just tossed that plate of food into the trash? Did you just see that kid dump his whole plate of food in the trash? What is happening? The perfectly good food that took tons of energy and water to produce just got thrown is a bin to taken to a landfill. Where the food will rot, stick, and be a mess at this landfill till it is decomposed. Is this really how it should be? Wasted food is a waste of water, energy and is completely unethical.

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

Evidence: According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, food is the number one type of garbage in America’s landfills. As it decomposes, this food emits methane, a gas that pollutes the air and soil. Some landfills have

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.

We have all probably eaten a delicious lunch or dinner, and been so full that we didn't know what to do with the leftovers.  The easiest solution for us is to just throw it away. That is actually the worst solution. Food waste has become a tremendous problem in the United States. One reason why it's a big issue, is because so much edible food is being thrown away. About 40% of all food produced in the U.S. is wasted. The worst part of all of this, is that there are millions of Americans who do not have food. We need to try to waste less food as soon as possible.

Not only does the American bubble prevent people from accepting the economic benefits of dedicated food recycling, many people are not cultured enough to realize the privilege of deciding which foodstuff are worth their investment. In the article "..." (Source #1). Almost contrary to the luxurious American lifestyle, the choosy decisions on which food to eat and waste drive up the prices and resources for other developing countries, who waste away until a media company gives them any attention. This could have all been avoided if such major cities utilized their food waste as sustainable, edible reserves instead of literal trash. In addition, in another article "..." (Source 3). Instead of wasting over 1,000 meals, the Rock it Up and Wrap It

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

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