GIVING BACK
Just Eat It Fighting Food Waste by TARA MENDANHA
he next time you throw away food, pause for a second and consider the impact of that small, seemingly insignificant action. Did you know that 40% of our food is wasted in the U.S.? (And one-third of food produced across the world.) That’s over 133 billion pounds or 31% of overall food supply wasted every year—much of it perfectly edible and nutritious.
Food Loss vs. Food Waste Now, food is wasted for several reasons and there’s often a distinction made between food loss and food waste. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Economic Research Service defines food loss as “the edible amount of food, post-harvest, available for human consumption but not consumed for any reason.” Before food even reaches the grocery store, it can be lost due to bad weather, processing problems, overproduction, insects, etc. Food waste, on the other hand, includes the food left on your plate at a restaurant, scraps from preparing a meal at home, and the expired foods you toss. Overbuying, poor planning, and not paying attention to labels also contribute to our food waste habits. All this comes at a hefty price tag of over $200 billion a year, which is over $1,866 per household. Imagine tossing thousands of dollars in the trash!
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| NOVEMBER 2021 |
Impact and Intervention Food waste, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature, also has an environmental impact, where we waste all the energy and water it takes to grow, harvest, transport, and package food. When all that food goes into landfills, it rots and produces methane—a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide. There’s much to be gained by consuming our food consciously. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), redirecting excess food to people, animals, or energy production provide immediate benefits to public health and the environment, including: • Reducing methane emissions from landfills. • Saving money through thoughtful planning, shopping, and storage. • Supporting your community by donating untouched food that would have otherwise gone to waste. • Conserving energy and resources by preventing pollution involved in the growing, manufacturing, transporting, and selling of food.
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Overbuying, poor planning, and not paying attention to labels also contribute to our food waste habits.
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