Spoiler Alert !

Define the Problem: Describe the type of case and what problem(s) or issue(s) should be the focus for

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,

There is enough food waste in America to fill up 730 football stadiums. Yet, ironically there were almost 50 million people who live in households that are food-insecure in 2013. Thus, it is critically important to help reduce (or at the very least reevaluate) the amount of food that is wasted so it can be used to help those who can’t always afford it, or, help to reduce the impact of methane released by landfills, or, help to use less resources gone into making the produce.

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.

1. What is the problem being addressed? Where, when and to what extent does the problem(s) occur? What is the scope of the project? Has another improvement team tried to solve this or a similar problem? What did they learn?

From a contractor’s perspective, determine the greatest single challenge involved in the source selection process and suggest one (1) strategy to address the challenge in question. Provide a rationale to support your response.

Although some people are not aware of this problem, generating food is quite expensive, because it wastes energy, fresh water and natural resources during its growth, package and delivering. Furthermore, some scientists have found that decomposing uneaten food produces high levels of methane emissions. The world's population is growing extremely fast. As a result, if humans keep on wasting food at the same pace as today, the waste of generating food will increase proportionally, (Kruszelnicki, 2012).

Parents are concerned about the milk being pasteurized and its harmful effect on their children since most of the nutrient in the milk is destroyed during the process of pasteurization. Soy milk has gained an image as a healthy alternative milk, if now being transformed, parents will consider the soy milk like a high-risk milk. Drinking milk is nature’s most perfect food. Our children need great source of milk in order for them to be strong and healthy women and men tomorrow. In today’s world, there is a major wake-up call for anyone who use pasteurized or processed food. These kind of food weaken our body and our health. Imagine our little ones being fed with them, 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 greenhouse gas.

The results suggest that pasteurization kills most pathogens in milk by brief exposure to relatively high temperature. This was demonstrated most beneficially with the 10-6 and 10-7 dilutions wherein the raw milk exhibited 284,000,000 cells/mL and 440,000,000 cells/mL respectively and the pasteurized milk had too few cell colony forming units to even count. Unpasteurized milk is not healthy for people to drink. For example, in a study performed in December of 2001, the bacteria Campylobacter jejuni, a microaerophilic bacteria commonly found in animal feces, was found in unpasteurized milk at an organic dairy farm in Wisconsin and caused 75 people, ages 2 to 63, to become ill.

In “Lectures 4-9” we talked about the importance of collecting customer needs and defining the scope of the project before starting the design phase.

Conventional shipping cartons have ventilation holes which allows air to circulate around the product, but this also allows the produce to continue ripening and exposes to bacteria and pathogens, which contributes to loss. FreshTec’s patented packaging technology employs a breathable plastic liner inside a cardboard carton, which is sealed with a plastic lid. It’s part of a growing segment of food packaging using modified atmosphere technology. The liner and plastic lid slow the amount of oxygen entering the carton and also traps some of the carbon dioxide the produce expels, effectively putting it to sleep for up to a month of travel time. Overall, FreshTec provides more time for produce to reach the market, which reduce the likelihood of loss or waste.

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

Use this section to identify the design documents that have been developed and summarizes the overall solution design in a succinct statement. Also, define why each of these design documents is necessary for the project.

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