Feeding America: “In the United States, people waste 80 million tons of food every year, which equals 149 billion meals. They throw away over $444 billion worth of food annually. Shockingly, they waste 38% of all the food in America.”
When food is wasted, all the resources that went into producing, processing, distributing, and preparing that food are wasted too.
Spoilage can occur at every stage of food production and delivery. Insects, rodents, mold, bacteria all occur on farms, in storage facilities, in transportation, and in food processing facilities.
Retail stores like grocery stores might over-order or have to throw away damaged packages or blemished produce. Restaurants face the same problems.
Consumers buy and cook more than they need. Food spoils. We order more than we can eat at restaurants. Unused, uneaten food usually goes in the garbage.
Recently a friend sent me the spring newsletter from ReFresh Nebraska, the Food Waste Reduction Program. It included the Wasted Food Scale developed by the EPA. The scale talks about different pathways to prevent or manage wasted food.
The best approach to reducing food loss and waste is not to create it in the first place. In economics terms, the demand should determine the supply.
The next preferred pathway is to donate and upcycle food. Food that isn’t sold can be donated to feed people. Items like fresh produce and dairy products are redistributed through food pantries or food box distributions. Nonperishables like canned goods are sent to food pantries.
In Alliance, we see lots of donated food at Community Table, the Haven, Extra Helpings Food Pantry, and the Senior Center. Local businesses offer excess food to these places that feed people who are food insecure. Farmers, ranchers, gardeners all offer some of what they produce. Those donations are necessary to allow those organizations to offer meals. Food that has been donated is upcycled into stews, soups, and salads by creative cooks who are donating their time. Extra food may be sent home.
According to ReFresh Nebraska, donating ensures that food and the resources used to produce it are not wasted. When food is donated, it is used for its intended purpose, feeding people.
Other options for extra food include feeding animals and composting to improve our soil.
Sometimes the food we produce still cannot be used. Does it go to the landfill? Too often that is true. The EPA says that food is the single largest component taking up space inside US landfills, making up 24 percent of our communities’ solid waste. Or we drop in into our garbage disposal and it ends up in the city’s sewer system.
The most preferred pathways – prevent wasted food, or donate and upcycle food – offer the most benefits to the environment and to our economy. These pathways prioritize using food for its intended purpose: to nourish people. Let’s all work on reducing the amount of food we waste.