We End America 's Massive Food Waste Problem? Essay

The article “Waste Not” by Elizabeth Royte was published in March of 2016 in National Geographic Magazine. It depicts the wastefulness of the food industry and shows the path of food from field to consumers’ homes. During the article the story focuses on Tristram Stuart; a food utilizing activist and naturalist, who is gathering wasted food for a food conservation event for the public. Stuart visits many different farms and markets to receive food that is not desirable. Throughout the world nearly one third of food that is grown is thrown away or wasted due to consumer needs and wants. This means that because there is a need and want for good quality food products that not only meet food eatable standards but also

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.

Everyone needs to eat, and food is immensely valuable. The resources put into everything you eat are limited, yet every year over 133 billon pounds of food goes uneaten. Food is wasted in all stages of the supply chain, from the farm to your dinner table, perfectly edible food is is chucked in the trash like it’s worthless, without regard to its value. "Ugly but edible: tackling food waste from coast to coast" by Lisa Dupree says "roughly one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally, which amounts to about 1.3 billion tons per year."

Consumers have become increasingly detached from their food as America’s food system grows larger and continues to ruin the environment. The main problem is that most consumers do not know how their consumption habits affect the ecosystem around them. Nor do they know about how their food was produced. Information about how and where the food is being produced and wasted is essential, so people can shop responsibly. Short of legislation, Americans make choices at the grocery store. It is essential for all Americans to cast in a vote with their dollars to change the way that food is produced in the United States resulting in more sustainable food being more accessible in the aisles of the grocery store for all Americans.

Food waste is an issue that is present at Cornell College. By going into Bon Appetit, the issue becomes clear. Students are given more food than they can eat. To go boxes are not available for students who dine in, and most students do not bring reusable containers with them. Most do not think about how much food they waste. By going over to where we put out plates when we are finished, it is easy to see many students leave a good portion of their meals on the plate. Whether they did not like what they were eating or they were in a hurry and had to leave, big amounts of food are wasted during each meal of the day. Steps can be taken to decrease the overall amount of food that is wasted on campus. Ideas such as smaller plates, vermiculture, competitions, and others can be utilized in the efforts to decrease food waste on campus.

Household waste and the way Americans dispose of their trash is a huge source of food waste, if not the biggest. According to the article, Food waste within food supply chains: quantification and potential for change to 2050, American families throw out between 14 and 25 percent of the food and beverages they buy, costing the average family between $1,365 to $2,275 annually. A big factor of how America families are able to waste so much food is that food has become very cheap and readily available. Food costs less in the United States than nearly anywhere else in the world. As Brad Plumer said, “Most people reason, what's the big deal if some of it gets tossed?” They think there is no big harm in throwing away food because it was not that expensive, but in reality, it all just piles up. There is also a lot of confusion around expiration labels, with there being more than 10 different variations of expiration date phrasing. The different phrases tend to puzzle people and often prompt them to throw out food before its time. People think that "best if used by" means that food item cannot be eaten past that date or they will get sick. The same applies for "better if used by" and "sell by." People often just toss food out early and stay on the safe side. "Best if used by," usually applies mostly to non-perishable foods. The term describes product quality, where the product may not taste as good as it would if it were fresher but is still safe to eat or drink. The "use by" date

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.

In simple terms, food waste is the loss of food that goes directly to the trash can uneaten or is thrown away. According to a report conducted by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), “about forty percent of the available food in the United States is wasted. Food is just too valuable to throw it away like trash” (Lipinski 2). Furthermore, Lipinski mentions that the NRDC “estimates that getting food on the tables of the people requires up to ten percent of the total U.S. energy budget, uses fifty percent of the nation’s land, and absorbs more than eighty percent of freshwater consumed in the United States” (3).

It is easy to agree with all of the author’s claims, due to their effective rhetoric. If people do take the certain steps to minimizing food waste, they will be rewarded. Food donations to food banks will help homeless and less fortunate people with hunger. Not wasting food will keep resources from becoming scarce. People can drop the percentage of food waste from 40 percent, to zero, only if not wasting food becomes the social norm. This would also save companies millions of dollars, instead of putting their products in landfills. Everyone has to take the certain steps, especially the ones the authors claim in their articles, to make a difference.

LeanPath is a automated food waste tracking systems to help users reduce pre-consumer food waste. LeanPath quantifies how much food is thrown out in a commercial kitchen due to spoilage, expiration or overproduction, with the goal being to reduce food purchases to match demand. A camera linked to a countertop scale documents each portion of food before it enters the garbage bin, providing photographic evidence. LeanPath turns waste reduction into a sort of competition, using online scoreboards that allow users to analyze the data to understand the underlying causes for waste. LeanPath can enable dramatic reduction in global food waste and

In food service it is important to realize and address hot button issues within the industry to begin to understand what the target market wants, increase revenue and decrease cost centers. In researching the increasingly pressing issue of food sustainability in global food service it was discovered that implementations are initially expensive and require large amounts of dedication but are ultimately huge factors in increasing brand loyalty and recognition and gaining popularity within the “green” market segment. It was the goal of this paper to outline specific concerns posed by the issue of food sustainability as well as methods of the industry’s participation in its solutions and to analyze the progress made to increase awareness of

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

Canada is a developed nation with most of its citizens living in food security. Most Canadians are able to live in security knowing that they have access and availability to food, others still struggle to get food onto their table. 850, 000 Canadians access a food bank every month when $31 billion dollars worth of food ends up in the landfills (CBC). One of the most valued resources to humans is being wasted instead of consumed. This research essay asks the question: why do Canadians waste their food? This essay will argue that it is people’s behaviour that causes food waste. It will look through two dimensions of food waste from consumer’s behaviour to manufacturing. It is clear to mention that it is not people’s intention to waste but because of their behaviours, food waste is still a major issue that goes on in Canadian society. Globally, one-third (1.3 billion tons), of food produced for human consumption is wasted along the food chain annually (George 3). Canadians waste about 183 kilograms of solid food per person. The solution to food waste is to stop wasting but we must look further about why do Canadians waste. The response to this question would be that Canadians need to reshape their relationship with food and modify their behaviour.

The everyday American on average wastes an astonishing twenty pounds of food each month (Gunders). Food waste is defined, as food that was intended for human consumption but was never eaten. Food waste in America is a massive problem; perfectly edible food is spoiled and discarded at every section of the food supply chain, which causes severe consequences for the environment and the economy. If Americans wasted 5% less food, the country as a whole would save fifty million dollars yearly (Hall). Not only would reducing food waste help save money but also it would immensely help climate change, as decomposing food in landfills creates methane gas. CO2 is known as the main culprit of climate change however; although methane gas is less talked

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.