Wasting perfectly good food is becoming more and more of an
issue, particularly in first world countries such as the United States. Americans don't eat nearly half the food they
buy, and that food ends up getting thrown away.
Producers and consumers both play a part in wasting food. Some food never makes it to the market
because of the way it looks or the way it's made, and some consumers don't buy
it because of those same reasons. There
are a few ways to fix this problem, such as planning meals, not buying in bulk,
making smaller portions, freezing leftovers, and to stop discriminating against
the "uglier" fruits and vegetables.
The lazy lifestyles of many first world countries may hold back the
progress on wasting less food, but I believe that as long as this issue is
being advertised in the right ways, people will start to act on it more.
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/life/2015/08/06/earth-wise-food-waste-environment/31223861/
I completely agree to Andrea on this topic. In the United States particularly, waste is extremely common. In one day, an average person generates 4.6 pounds of waste. We don't realize, as a first world country that we don't eat half the food we buy. We do have a "lazy lifestyle" that is very common for a first world country. With that, we do need to appreciate, as Andrea says the "discriminated fruits and vegetables" and don't judge on the looks. Simple things such as eating leftovers or even making smaller portions can really make a difference. I also agree with Andrea that if we advertise more on this issue, then people would act more on this.
ReplyDeleteDo you know what the specific effects on the environment are from the food waste issue? Some effects that I can think of off the top of my head are probably increased greenhouse gasses from overproduction of crops, increased use of fertilizer, and increased run off and pollution. Also, if we waste meat products, increased methane gas emissions from cattle, and increased ammonia in the environment from chickens. I also agree with Katherine, that portion sizes have a lot to do with this issue. If we ate smaller portion sizes we would not consume nearly as much, and then we would not produce as much.
ReplyDeleteYou make a great point; we Americans do not realize how lucky we are just to have food. It should not matter how the food looks as long as the food has not gone bad. Most people are stuck in a mindset that if the food looks bad it is bad. I know even though I should not do it I have been guilty of it. If you have food that is about to go bad and there is too much for you and your family to eat you can take the food to a homeless shelter or a food pantry. Another option would be to can your food because canning adds to the life span of the food. If you have left over scraps of meat (ex: Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, ham, and ect . as long as they do not have bones) You can feed it to your dogs.
ReplyDeleteWasting food is definitely a huge problem in the United States. People in this country do not realize how lucky we are to have these foods. While people here have the luxury of having food, there are other people in other countries who are dying to have the foods that we waste. I agree with the ways that Ciara listed to fix the problem of wasting foods, which is " planning meals, not buying in bulk, freezing leftovers, making smaller portions, and to stop discriminating against the " uglier" fruits and vegetables." This would maybe decrease the amount of food that is wasted.
ReplyDelete