Food Waste Essay

The reason there is so much food in the household wasted is because when American grocery shop, they buy more food than what their family needs or will eat. This act results in food not being eaten in time, then having to get thrown away and wasted.  It is stated that 16 percent of methane emissions produced by landfills are just from foods that have been thrown away (Chan, 2013). There are many things that the people in the United States could do to help decrease the amount of food that is wasted each year.

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.

Understanding the amount of food that we waste along with what portion may have been edible and identifying some of the root causes of why we waste food in the first place are critical steps in designing strategies for action. We are also assessing how much surplus food could potentially be directed to people in need, quantifying the opportunity for increased food donation. In Denver specifically, we will also project the financial investments in food-rescue infrastructure that would be needed to fully realize Denver’s potential for food

Food, one of our most precious resources, is being wasted in increasing amounts in America. Today, so many obstacles confront produce that there is a 40% chance that it will be discarded before it reaches the consumer’s mouth on its way from the farm (Gunders, D. 2014). Food waste is a multifaceted problem because it has many manifestations and many sources. Improvement would result in the nourishment of poor families, conservation of water and fossil fuels, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (Hall, K., Guo, J., Dore, M., & Chow, C., 2009). Problems can be found everywhere that food can be found in like farms, restaurants, markets, and homes. Solutions can be found through the application of critical thinking. Methods of critical

Abundance, a factor that leads to people not appreciating what they have so they throw it out. Even though, food is a scarcity of some countries, there is a plethora of food in America. Yet, food is a prevalent waste item in the United States. When people become comfortable and learn that they will have everything to live comfortably they don’t fully appreciate the little things. An example is when people do not appreciate the taste of a certain food in America they throw it away or ask for it to be redone, where it is later thrown out. Few people stop to think how this will affect both the world and the government’s economy. Food waste, a specific highly critical issue in America resulting from the abundance of food. Waste is created when

A lot of things go to waste in this day and age; almost every country adds to this. There are needs for people. That is understandable. However, the United States of America is possibly one of the biggest contributors to waste in this world; this country dissipates a substantial amount of food, uses an insane amount of water, and utilizes a significant amount of energy.

Food is thrown out everyday, it is thrown out at excessive rates in developed countries, yet at the same time there are children and people that go hungry every night. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, Americans waste up to 30% of food or $48.3 billion on food by throwing it out. It is also estimated that one third of all the food produced in the world gets lost or wasted (Food Waste Products). But

People throwing away food, allowing food to rot, and even something as simple as not completely eating an apple are examples of how food is wasted in America. Food waste appears to be nothing out of the ordinary because it is very easy for consumers to go out and buy themselves more food if needed. In contemporary society, there is a trend which shows a tremendous increase in the rates of people wasting food. We as a society in America lose about one thirds of the food that comes to us which ends up amounting to around 1.3 billion dollars worth of food. Industrialized nations have been known to waste more food that other nations like sub-Saharan Africa produce (Stewart 12). Food waste which represent unnecessary chemicals, land, and energy has become one of America’s biggest problems up to date. Through the loss of money, depreciation of food, and pollution, we are creating an unbalanced society.

Why do we waste food in the first place? In an article by Tamar Haspel called, “It's time to embrace the freezer, and what's in it”, she exemplified that one easy way to reduce waste is to “rethink the word fresh”. This quote means that people’s obsession with the word “fresh” correlating the phrase with tasty or wholesome, causes more food being thrown away. While it is true that everyone prefers fresh-harvest or fresh-caught produce like fish or vegetables over

Why do we waste food in the first place? In an article by Tamar Haspel called, “It's time to embrace the freezer, and what's in it”, she exemplified that one easy way to reduce waste is to “rethink the word fresh”. This quote means that people’s obsession with the word “fresh” correlating the phrase with tasty or wholesome, causes more food thrown away. While it is true that anyone would prefer fresh-harvest

Food waste is defined as unrecovered surplus food that can be used to feed people and animals and produce new products as well as new materials or energy (Garrone, 2014). According to an estimate, approximately 280-300 kg is wasted per person per year in Europe and North (Gustavsson, 2011). The problem needs considerable attention particularly in less developed countries where thousands of people die every year of food starvation. Using engineering processes and innovative techniques can save ample food from being wasted that can be eventually used to feed the poor people in undeveloped regions of the world. The following paper has discussed the use of ICTs, Food Consumption Patterns Information System, and Ubiquitous Technique to reduce the food wastage.

Waste. A word with a negative connotation. A word that means to use carelessly, with no purpose. But yet we do it more times a day than a smoker smokes. We waste food, clothing, natural resources, and so much more. But what is something that people need? Food. We waste so much food. With this wasted food, we could give it to people who don’t have any food, people who need it more than us. Why we waste? Because since day 1, we are taught that if something smells weird or looks funny, we should throw it away. If something is out of trend, we shouldn’t wear it again. The question is, what can we do to cancel out this wasteful cycle?

Food waste is a large problem in the United States for multiple reasons. As said previously, the methane released by organic waste sitting in a landfill is ruining the atmosphere. In terms of ethics, avoidable food waste in the U.S. made up 197.7 billion dollars of revenue in 2009 (Venkat, 2012). That means food that could have been used by people was thrown out. Four percent of families in the United States live on less than two dollars a day (Edin and Schaefer, 2015). Wasted food could be given to those families in need,

The United Nations estimates that one in nine people in the world do not have access to sufficient food to lead a healthy lifestyle (“The Environmental Impact of Food Waste According”, 2016) and nearly one-third of the food produced in the world is wasted and lost for various reasons. Food loss and waste can cause a huge economical loss and cause severe damage to the world. Food loss happens especially on the manufacturing degree due to natural calamities, loss of proper infrastructure and negative practices while food waste normally happens when people purchase food, food that has expired and people who intentionally discards edible food. When food is wasted and goes

Different definitions of food waste with respect to the complexities of food supply chains are discussed. Background information on how food is wasted is provided. Food waste in the global food chain is reviewed in relation to the prospects for feeding a population of nine billion by 2050. A significant gap exists in the understanding of the food waste implications in the economy of the developing countries. For affluent economies, post-consumer food waste accounts for the greatest overall losses. To supplement the fragmentary picture and to gain a forward view, scholarly sources were consulted, data recorded and analyzed. The analysis highlighted the scale of the problem, the scope for improved system efficiencies and the challenges of affecting behavioral change to reduce food waste. More to that, long term and short term effects of wasting food was listed and described.