Persuasive Essay On Food

The book, American Wasteland: How American Throw Away Nearly Half of Its Food, written by Jonathan Bloom, deeply describes the situation of food waste in America. The author, Bloom, starts off the book by mentioning that each day America squanders enough food tone fill up the Rose Bowl, the football stadium in Pasadena, California (xi). Bloom even brings out a specific number to prove that how much food were wasted in the United States, which is 160 billion pounds annually (xii). From that description and figure, we can see that food waste problem is really serious today.

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.

About fifty million Americans are not certain when their next meal will be and in a society filled with food insecurities, the fact there this so much food waste is perplexing (King, 2015). Around the world, about two billion tons of food is wasted through production, transportation, distribution and retail, and post consumer (Glickman 2013). This amount of food

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.

Bloom, J. (2010). American wasteland: How America throws away nearly half of its food (and what we can do about it). Cambridge: Da Capo Press.

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

When reading the article “This Apple Could Have Been Saved” by Kristen Lewis and Adee Braun it makes you realize just how much America and all of the people living here have been taught so many bad habits with conserving food. People in America have been taught by not only their families but by society that it is okay to waste food. These habits have affected so many things on earth including pollution and starvation. One example from the article is the picture on page 15 of a landfill covered in half eaten food and trash that could have been composted,donated, or even given to animals. All of these problems could be reduced or even ended if people just listened to the people around the world pushing and even trying to help reduce the amount

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

Have you ever thought food waste is a really severe problem? I think food waste is a big problem because a lot of families are without food and I don’t want families to starve. Up to forty percent of food in the United States is wasted. Also one in eight families struggle to put food on the table. Article two. Sixty-two million tons of food is wasted every year. Globally up to one-third of all food is spoiled. Article one. Food waste is the biggest occupant in America's landfills. 160 billion dollars is wasted on food waste. Article three.

In 1997 a study was conducted by Kantor el al. on food loss in the U.S that resulted in 96 billion pounds of food lost “or 27% of the 356 billion pounds of food available for human consumption” (Buzby). That lost and wasted food could make a magnificent change in the amount of starving families that are in the U.S. but still food waste continued to grow. In 2008 food loss and waste went up to 29% at retail and consumer levels. That food could have been used for other purposes if the correct procedures would have been done. All of this food is sent to landfills and processed with other forms of garbage and waste. In 2005 and 2006 11.4% of fresh fruit, 9.7% of fresh vegetables and 4.5% of fresh meat was either lost, wasted or spoiled at retail

Healthy food should be accessible to everyone. If healthy food isn’t available for everyone all it’s going to do is cause more and more health problems. If we made healthy organic food the same price as cheap unhealthy food there would be a big difference in the health of our country. It’s completely unfair to make healthy food too expensive for other people to buy, which causes them to buy cheap unhealthy food, like off a dollar menu at a fast food restaurant. This issue needs to be put to an end.

When something is detrimental to our health, we strive to avoid it whenever possible to extend our lives. We know that exposure to known cancer causing agents such as asbestos and lead paint is harmful; therefore, we do not expose ourselves to the risk and we certainly do not eat it. This seems simple; however, what do we do when that harmful vice is food? We cannot stop eating; instead, we must closely examine what we are putting into our bodies. When faced with the choice of a burger or grilled vegetables, most would choose the burger. These choices have lead us down a path littered with food related diseases, illnesses and rising healthcare costs. The state of Americans health is declining due to increasing obesity, diabetes and

Wasting food is a bad habit that affects all of society and we continue to implicate ourselves in the problem. Of the total of food loss that is going on about 40 percent is in the household. Overall a typical household of four loses about 600 dollars in food a year. (Jones 11)

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.

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