World needs to find ways to stop wasting food.
I think we are all aware of the fact that in the midst of world hunger, good food gets thrown away every day around the globe. But I for one was not aware of how bad the situation really is.
A recent United Nations report revealed that one-third of the food produced in the world goes to waste. One-third! That’s an incredible amount of food, especially when you consider how many people go to bed hungry every night, including an estimated 17 million children. The monetary loss is estimated at $750 billion per year.
In affluent areas, the main cause of this waste is consumer behavior, while in developing countries, most food is wasted because of inadequate harvesting techniques. In addition to the fact that many people are starving while perfectly good food goes to waste, the wasted food also causes carbon emissions, extra water consumption and the reduction of biodiversity.
We can’t solve the world’s food problems, but we can do our part to stop wasting food. Following are 6 ways to accomplish that:
• Make a specific list of items needed before going to the supermarket and stick to it. Don’t be a victim of impulse buys that often end up being tossed out.
• Eat dinner leftovers for lunch the next day, and maybe even for dinner the next evening if there is still food left over.
• Go through the pantry and freezer to find food items that are nearing their expiration dates and put a meal together with them.
• Eat before going grocery shopping. A hungry shopper is more likely to buy food that he or she will end up throwing out.
• Make fewer trips to the supermarket. The more trips that are made, the more food will be purchased and possibly the more will be thrown out.
• If food that’s nearing an expiration date won’t be used, donate it to a non-profit food pantry.
Do you find yourself throwing away more food than you intend to? Will some of the above suggestions help cut down on the amount of food you toss out? Do you have some additional ideas on how we can stop wasting food? Hope to hear from you about this important subject.
It stands to reason that the biggest wasters of food by volume and value would be the big industrialized food operations such as schools and the military. Because of the way I was raised I have all these habits which minimize food waste at home, but I think that in order to make a real dent in the global food waste statistics better procedures need to be figured out for reducing waste in the places that have to provide food for thousands of people at one time on a regular basis. Maybe we need dedicated specialized food waste scientists and food waste engineers?
Currently, about 40%, last I checked, of our corn crop goes to gasohol, which costs more to produce and provides less power than gasoline. The government pays billions to subsidize it, corporate farmers love it, and we get to ruin our small engines and dry out our fuel system gaskets with it. Maybe it’s time to change that particular PC program and feed a few more folks?
The biggest waste is the schools. We pay for breakfast and lunch for 100% of students (you wouldn’t want to discriminate or stigmatize government handouts). For a while they delivered breakfast to the classroom and some would eat- and would eat the extras, but too messy, so now they just throw out the extra. And for lunch, they skip the food in favor of the snack machine. Why are there snack and pop machines in the schools? And if they are too poor to pay for their lunch, where do they get the money to buy junk. What a waste (and on our dime).
In years gone by, before the government decided what we could and couldn’t do, there was very little waste of any sort. However with the advent of increasing governmental regulation(not all of which is bad) the food that was left over could be given to the needy, homeless kitchens, etc., but now that is prohibited. The government is directly responsible for the majority of waste that now occurs for example I worked in health care for over 30 years and if we had medications that were not used by a patient, were not expired and still in the original packaging by regulation had to be destroyed, stuff that 3rd world health clinic’s would love to obtain. Same thing with food regulations.
I HVE BEEN USING LEFT OVERS LIKE BEANS MEAT AND POTATO SALLAD TO MAKE SOUP.YOU CAN DO THIS TOO
One of the biggest wasters is the military. Even 60 yrs. ago pulling KP it was rampant.
Food pantries are not the complete solution either. Often the endless choking regulations prohibit giving out canned goods past their “expiration” date. (They don’t go bad that fast). Also, a commenter on another forum was getting food from a food pantry and witnessed on a rugular basis “poor” people walking out of the pantry and throwing away the stuff they did not want to eat. She did not explain why they took it or if forced to take it. She also said that most of these so called “poor” knew were all the pantries were and their schedules and would obtain 100’s of bucks of free food each week that would never be eaten. Another person I knew who volunteered to deliver food confirmed the hoarding that some of these people did. That was before I was prepping and did not know about having a good stockpile. I am sure they don’t think of themselves as “preppers”. But they were set if their food source ended.
Throwing away perfectly good food because
of an “expiration” date is a wasteful crime! l have eaten food at least 5 years “past date” that was fine, & l have had to throw away “in date” because it went bad. l survived many years before items were “dated”. l realize that common sense isn’t very common, but please!!!
My husband is a stickler for expiration dates, which drives me crazy. Now I get out the nail polish remover and the date disappears before he can see it. ; )
I do my level best to not waste food, and we have gotten into growing our own, canning, drying, etc. Also, I have ALWAYS composted every single organic item that can be used… the only exception being fat and of course very large bones (don’t have the money for a bone grinder) Additionally, you can also compost paper napkins and paper towels, news paper if you shred it, even card board, as long as its not the glossy kind. I also grind up leaves every fall then till them under.
Now if we could only compost plastic :-)
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Bone grinder=big dog. Not 100% effective, but 90-95.
My grandfather always said, “Waste not, want not.”
It is only when you have starved that you realize how precious food really is. When you go through life never knowing where your next meal will come from, will you not waste what you have saved for.
People that really waste the most are those that are shortsighted and selfish. Their only concerns are for the here and now. If they work for an organization that puts out too much food, instead of reducing their surplus or give it away, they are forced to throw it away. There are legalities and safety concerns involved, I know and understand. However, there must be a meeting of the minds to reduce this waste and perhaps feed the hungry. If you see something then say something. See what it will take to eliminate the waste and perhaps feed the hungry at the same time. All you have to do is ask; all they can say is, no.
Hey Cliff, it sounds like we had the same grandpa. When I was growing up on the ranch, we ate what was placed in front of us or .. we went hungry till the next meal. Now I am appalled that my own grandkids can say (and get away with) things like- “Oh, I love the flavor and it looks good, but I can’t stand the texture.” I guess common sense just isn’t as common as it used to be.
A friend delivered for a bread company and was friends with the milk delivery man. He was taking the old milk and the old bread mixing it and feeding it to his pigs. The pigs were growing very fast until the milk company found out and put a stop to it and made the milk guy dump all the milk.
I grew up on a truck farm and the very most single item I missed from home was peas, beans, and corn in the freezer and Green beans, Tomato juice and ketchup on the shelves. I worked hard to plow, disk, plant, cultivate, weed, harvest, and process food. When after all that it makes it prepared to the table and then thrown out really, really irks me. I garden now and eat what I can, and can what I can’t. I once had a surplus of Argonaut squash (a real delicacy as far as I’m concerned) and took it to a farmers market. They would not allow me to sell it, or give it to another “vendor” to sell, or even give it away. I love these church and community food surplus giveaways that offer outdated or old food. I once got several 50 pound bags of large onions. They were slimey; but I used every one in there. Dehydrators work great. People are lazy, or busy, and do not want to work for the great nutritional value in fruits and vegetables. It is worth it – especially if we do not waste it. Thanks for reading.
most of what i’m reading appears to be normal government waste. to truly see waste you really need to look at cost plus contracts where contractors are paid a profit based on how much they can spend….truly amazing!
One of the best ways to save food is to have a good dehydrator (I like the L’Equip pro model) and use it. When you see your potatoes are starting to sprout, either put them in the garden to grow or slice and parboil them, then dehydrate them, saving them in mason jars. Great use for soups and stews or au gratin potatoes once rehydrated. Any other vegetables or food you see is starting to get to prime and you know you won’t eat it, dehydrate it or can it. Particularly good for things you would just toss – onions starting to sprout (dehydrate), celery getting a little limp but still green (dehydrate), sweet potatoes beginning to sprout (slice, parboil, dehydrate, later powder for mashed sweet potatoes).
I’m an executive french chef, and have worked in country clubs and hotels all of my life. The amount of food that is wasted in these settings is beyond imagination. The parties, banquets and buffets are nothing more than garbage pits. Once served, very little is salvageable and it’s a crying shame. The client wants to be impressive and extravagant, yes it all looks beautiful, you can’t wait to dig in, but you can only eat so much and the health code won’t let us do anything else but throw out what is left. Sadly, there’s nothing that can be done about it that I can think of and where I grew up, throwing out food was a sin also…
Our church used to take advantage of bread donations from a local quickie mart chain. Every time they restocked, they would give us what had been on the shelves. We did this for about 7 years. Then they got smart and reconsidered how to prevent waste. Now they check the dates of the shelved items when they are restocking. The donations dropped from 1-3 garbage bags full to a handful of loaves. It’s not worth it for me to pick it up anymore, but we appreciate that the store is being more efficient, which benefits everyone even though we don’t get the free bread anymore.
Years ago, I knew someone who worked in various kitchens on a military base. These kitchens would daily prepare food in excess of what the average demand was, just in case more soldiers showed up. Every single day, each of these kitchens were dumping gallons of unused milk, & countless sandwiches, & many pounds of everything else. A few kitchen officers would tell the staff to pack the food to the dumpsters at the end of the day, knowing (but not acknowledging) that the staff were loading the “garbage” into their cars. But some of them were hard-core for regulations & would follow them out to make sure that this good food became trash. One holiday, I & several neighbors received deliveries of this extravagant waste. There were (from a single kitchen) a dozen roasted turkeys, 20 or so fruit pies, many pounds of side dishes, breads, whole fruits, cheeses, all of which were designated for the dumpsters. Happily for us, the kitchen officer did not feel that destroying so much good food was important, & let the employees take what was left. The bounty I described was just a small portion of the total that would have been dumped, recovered by a single employee. I have no idea how many mess halls are on a typical base, or if this same situation exists on all of them, Attempts were made to connect with the local food kitchens & rescue shelters, but Uncle Sam determined that regulations trumped hunger & it was all in vain. So in addition to dumping hundreds of pounds of perfectly good food every day, multiply that waste across multiple military installations & it is probably into tonnage, every day. It made me sick then, & I am still mad about it. Just because the taxpayers have to pick up the tab for their wastefulness does not justify sending good food to a landfill.
That said, most of our personal kitchen waste, & I have very little, can be composted, or fed to back-yard chickens. Or pigs. I have neither creature at present, but I know that a lot of restaurants are happy to have people take their food wastes off their hands, if you have the animals to eat them. And every crumb gets composted.
This might sound silly to a lot of your readers, but I grew up in a household that believed that waste was sinful. Accordingly, the idea of putting wasted food in the trash was unthinkable. The dogs got first shot at it, but anything else went in the compost. For the readers that are feeding wildlife, I will add that my compost bins get raided, too. You never know what might be important to someone else.
As to what to do with all the food scraps from the daily plates of food left over I separate the meat from the vegetables and all of the meat and veg’s go to feed the animals around the neighborhood and you can take it to a local farmer for pig/chickens to eat.
I’m feeding raccoons, grey fox,skunks and wild cats.
To Coyote Hubbard: You’re exactly right. It’s truly disgusting the greed and lack of regard that many Americans have in society today. I too have worked in retail for many years and have seen the waste in so many ways. I do have a recommendation. The meat you have to “waste” can be recycled just like you do for food banks. If you live in a large city, have you tried contacting zoo’s, animal No Kill Homes, and Humane Societies to see if you can help them fulfill needs for pet food? Try advocating for these organizations and possibly finding another charitable donation site(s) for your company. Who knows…you might be onto something there!
I saw a TV program once where a city in California had food recycle bins for some of the restaurants and that food went to a local pig farm. ……wonder if I can find an article on that somewhere…
I work in a retail chain that has “Fresh” departments. For myself, i work in fresh meats. Part of our daily routine is managing the returns of said fresh meats. Occasionally we get the return of the customer just did not like it. I can understand this and fortunately its rare, but what really makes me shake my head is when a shopping cart, 1/3rd full of fresh meats comes back because the customer could not pay for it (I left my debit / credit card at home – or, I decided I did not want any of it at all and I am dumping it at the checkout).
The vast majority of this becomes “render”. It cannot be restocked as it had broke the cold chain and is considered unfit for consumption.
Its heartbrreaking seeing how much goes to waste. We do have an aggressive program that takes our close to date stock and gets it into local food banks where it at least is not wasted, but for situations mentioned above its all waste. its sad, yet folks whom do this most times are the type that shrug their shoiulders with the implications and have no care or concern.
Im going to go out on a shaky limb here and say that in a survival situation, I have little sympathy if they dont make it. Harsh, but in a survival situation, its all harsh and no one really wins. Some just make it thru it hopefully stronger and more ready to move on.