The Impact of Food Waste
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What is Food Waste?
Every single day, all types of food and produce are going to waste for many different reasons. There's two terms used to describe the process of food being wasted, which are Food Waste and Food Loss. Throughout the process of producing food, from growing to harvesting, and all the steps it goes through in order to get to the market and so on, there's a lot of factors that causes food waste along the way. During the early stages, many types of produce can spoil due to mishandling or exposure to different conditions which results in the loss of a lot of food. Many of the food waste is also a result of consumers throwing away food they purchased and don't fully consume, spoilage, or buying too much. On top of that, a lot of food is being over produced in farms, which results in not being able to sell it all. Since things like fruits and vegetables don't last forever, this becomes a problem because it ends up going to waste. This results in a large number of produce and food going to waste each year and causes an even greater problem.
Why is it an Issue?
It is estimated that around 30 to 40% of the supply of food goes to waste each year. That is a large number of food being wasted. Not only could it have gone to those in need, it also leads into other problems. Food waste actually makes up most of the contents in landfills, which shows how much food is being thrown away. Not only is food being wasted, but many other resources used to create it too. Food and produce goes through a long process and the cost of resources that are being used to create and maintain these produce goes to waste along with the food we do not consume. That is why the issue of Food Waste also affects other things like the cost of water and energy being used to produce it.
The Effect of Food Waste on a Greater Scale
As massive amounts of food is being thrown into the landfills, it only gets worse from there. When the food that are in the landfill start to decompose, they release a greenhouse gas called Methane, which is a lot more dangerous than carbon dioxide. The problem creates a chain reaction to bigger problems, which results in climate change because of the huge amount of greenhouse gases being released into the air from wasted food. The NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) stated that the greenhouse gases being released by food waste is more "than 37 million cars." In the end, food being wasted plays a major role in creating problems for the environment, just as much as the pollution in the air from vehicles and factories.
Why is it important to me?
We all consume food everyday and I think that is something we can all understand. Having a family that mostly eats at home, purchasing various ingredients for cooking and managing all the food on a weekly basis makes this issue feel relevant to me. Since food is such a major part of our lives, seeing food being wasted everywhere you go, makes it feel like a normal everyday thing, but it's a problem that leads to greater problems. My family always valued the idea of not wasting food, and would constantly remind me how valuable food is. My parents, having experienced working on a farm, understood all the hardships that goes into creating produce.
What can we do about it?
- Avoid buying food or ingredients that you already have a lot of
- Try to think about what types of food you are planning to eat or cook for the week and create a list of things to buy when going to the market
- Taking care of the produce that you purchased, by storing them in the proper environment and conditions
- Keeping track of your produce and expiration dates can help in being aware of when something is about to go bad so you can do something about it before it happens
USDA and EPA hierarchy of preferred methods to reduce food waste
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