Picture this–you’re 10 years old and at the dinner table with your family. Your mom made your least favorite meal–meatloaf–and you are kind of shoving it around your plate with your fork, hoping dinner time will end so you can scrape it into the trash can. Mom is on to you though, and tells you to eat your dinner, with her usual reminder of, “You know there are children starving in Africa who would love to eat that meatloaf.” In the mind of my 10 year old self I would think, “I’d rather starve than eat this!” We’ve all been there–maybe for you it wasn’t meatloaf, but some other dish that you hated and mom seemed to ALWAYS make it. And now that we’re grown and have kids of our own, we’ve all used Mom’s line about the starving children. We don’t need to travel to Africa to find starving kids though, there are plenty right here in our homeland.
Now, think of this alarming statistic: here in the United States we throw away between 30-40% of our food supply every year. THIRTY TO FORTY PERCENT!!!!!!! That’s CRAZY! If you put a price tag on that amount of food, it’s almost $115 billion per year. Not all food waste is a result of those finicky kids. Nearly 6 billion pounds of fresh produce is left to rot in fields every year. 6 BILLION pounds! YIKES! Farmers toss a third of their harvests due to “cosmetic standards” that include criteria for color, size, weight, blemish level and sugar content. Yet studies have shown that “ugly produce” have more nutrients and antioxidants, which ultimately means a healthier fruit or vegetable. So these healthier fruits and veggies are ending in landfills, rather than in our bellies! Then there is the food that spoils in transit as a result of inconsistent refrigeration or from sitting too long at loading docks. How about restaurants? Between 4-10% of food purchased by restaurants is wasted before reaching the consumer. Diners leave, on average, 17% of their meals uneaten and 55% of edible leftovers are left behind at restaurants. (I’m guilty of this–far too often I forget to take my doggie bag!). Then there is the waste in retail stores–the USDA estimates that supermarkets lose $15 billion annually in unsold fruit and vegetables. Add to that all the food that is tossed because it hits it’s “Sell By” date. I’ll get to those dates in a minute. Check out these stats here).
As for us consumers, we are responsible for approximately 40-50% of food waste in the U.S. Why are we tossing so much food? Well, on top of the picky eaters in our households, there are a few reasons: we don’t use the food we buy before it goes bad; we cook and serve too much food, we don’t understand date labels (a BIG pet peeve of ours here at Hudson Milk), we buy too much and we don’t plan our meals and shopping lists.
What’s the big deal about food waste? Well, consider this–uneaten food is the single biggest component of municipal solid waste. Translation–this food is ending up in landfills. Here In the U.S. organic waste is the second highest component of landfills. Why is this a problem? Well, this uneaten food breaks down to form methane, a greenhouse gas that is 25% more powerful than carbon dioxide. Seeing as landfills are the largest source of methane emissions, this means our food waste is a major contributor to air pollution. In addition to the pollution this food waste contributes to, all the resources used to produce, process, transport and store this food (think land, water, labor, energy, etc.) are wasted. In a 2009 study by the Food and Agriculture Organization it was estimated that about 25% of the water in the U.S. is used to produce food that is wasted. That’s just a lot of unnecessary waste!
So what can be done about this? Well, as consumers we need to stop wasting food! For starters, try to get a handle on how much food you actually throw away. Wasting food is very often a subconscious act, and if you actually pay attention and keep track of what you are throwing away I promise, you will be amazed! Here are some resources to help you with your food waste tracking quest: http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/r
- Step 1 – plan out meals and make a shopping list and stick to that list. And try to resist the urge of stocking up on things that are on sale. I am so guilty of this, but I’ve learned that if I don’t use them and end up throwing them out anyway, I’ve really spent more money rather than saved money. The USDA has a great resource that allows you to create and print your own cookbook and create shopping lists: https://whatscooking.fn
s.usda.gov/ - Step 2 – Learn how to maximize the shelf life of produce. A Minnesota non-profit dedicated to helping individuals attain zero-waste goals, Eureka Recycling has created this fabulous guide to food storage: http://makedirtnotwas
te.org/sites/default/files/a- z_food_storage_guide-web.pdf - Step 3 – Save and eat leftovers. I know for some, this is a tough thing to do. And yes, I’m guilty of tossing those leftovers too. But I’ve learned to pack those leftovers in single serving containers for a quick grab and go lunch in the following days. Consider popping some in the freezer too!
- Step 4 – Freeze fresh food before it’s reached its prime. Learn to pickle/can/jar fruits and veggies for use during those long, cold, dreary winter months. Look for local classes on canning in the summer months at area farms (think Hilltop Hanover in Yorktown or adult continuing education classes through your local school district) or try an online course at Universal Class or Michigan State University Extension
- Step 5 – COMPOST! Start backyard composting or donate your scraps to a local composting center (http://www.findacomposter.com
/). Transform your scraps into a highly beneficial resource. Compost is nutrient-rich and a perfect fertilizer that is free of pollutants, chemicals and costs! It adds organic structure and nutrients to the soil and increases drought resistance. This in turn creates a healthier soil resulting in better food! As an added bonus, food waste doesn’t create methane in a compost system the way it does in a landfill. Composting is a win-win! - Step 6 – Buy that ugly fruit and those ugly vegetables! Remember, those are higher in nutrients and antioxidants. Translation–they are better for us. And, they usually taste better!
- Step 7 – Donate excess groceries to a local food rescue organization. Locate the one nearest you at http://sustainableamerica.o
rg/foodrescue/ If you are a home gardener and find yourself with an abundance of produce that you won’t eat, don’t let it go to waste rotting in the garden. If you aren’t going to can/pickle/jar it (see step 3) donate it to those in need. Use ampleharvest.org to donate. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, saving just 1/4 of the food currently lost or wasted globally would be enough to feed 870 million hungry people in the world.
And last, but certainly not least….
- Above all else, please take a few minutes to understand FOOD DATE LABELS! These dates we have all grown accustomed to don’t actually indicate the safety of food, or even tell you when it will spoil! As I mentioned earlier, food date labels and the lack of the public’s understanding of them, is a big pet peeve of ours and as such will be the topic of our next post!