More than 25% of the food available for consumption in the United States gets thrown away. If we could recover a quarter of that waste, we could feed 20 million people.
An estimated 27% of food available for consumption in the United States ends up in the trash. A third of the food purchased by people in England is thrown away. Families with small children in Sweden toss out about a quarter of the food they buy. All while millions starve.
Less food waste would mean less pollution from greenhouse gases. More importantly, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that “recoving just 5 percent of the food that is wasted could feed four million people a day; recovering 25 percent would feed 20 million people.”
Lamentably food waste has not been high on the agenda of too many people. “For decades, wasting food has fallen into the category of things that everyone knows is a bad idea that few do anything about.”
That may be changing. In addition to the efforts of food rescue groups that pick up excess food from cafeterias and restaurants, a growing number of stats and cities are offering programs to turn waste (food that can’t be used by food banks) into compost. Some restaurants are offering smaller portions. School cafeterias are starting to do away with trays, resulting in students taking less food. It’s a start but we all need to think about how to raise awareness of what less waste can mean in a world where so many are starving.
For more, see the article in today’s New York Times titled, One Country’s Table Scraps, Another Country’s Meal.
Tags: Hunger
Looking at the article’s head picture visualizing the amount and categories of food thrown away explains everything the story is about –> http://1.1.1.1/bmi/graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/05/18/weekinreview/0518martin-span.jpg It is the lifestyle that leads us to waste various goods and food in particular. If the research was made according to life standard groups in the country it could show the simple rule: the higher income group we look at the larger waste ratio is noticed. The more we can afford the more we can waste. We buy goods we can afford. Why should I get high-mileage compact car if I can easily get SUV? Why must I buy small loaf of bread for one person if buying large one is more tasteful. On the other hand we waste food because we tend to be price-savers. If I can buy three bottles of milk for the price of two in the same shop I will buy three. No matter I need less than two bottles for my purposes. I feel satisfied saver because I bought some milk ‘cheaper’ and I don’t even think of the three bottles of milk one will end up in the trash. An example of smaller restaurant portions is good, too. We waste food, and not only food, because we can afford it. People who loose their jobs and incomes waste less because saving and economy thinking helps them survive hard times. And we forget one thing: we would have possessed nothing if it were not given to us earlier. If we waste goods we are given we become unworthy of further gifts. No matter if we live in United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Poland or China. I posted some reflections regarding how we treat the food and water we have that so many others lack on my blog here: http://susanjoan.wordpress.com/2008/05/22/how-we-use-what-others-lack/. Although may be hard to get traction in this country on issues like food and water waste, it should not be hard for people of faith to see the need to change our consumption patterns and to stop taking for granted that which so many die for lack of.2 Comments
Looking at the article’s head picture visualizing the amount and categories of food thrown away explains everything the story is about –> http://1.1.1.1/bmi/graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/05/18/weekinreview/0518martin-span.jpg
It is the lifestyle that leads us to waste various goods and food in particular. If the research was made according to life standard groups in the country it could show the simple rule: the higher income group we look at the larger waste ratio is noticed.
The more we can afford the more we can waste. We buy goods we can afford. Why should I get high-mileage compact car if I can easily get SUV? Why must I buy small loaf of bread for one person if buying large one is more tasteful.
On the other hand we waste food because we tend to be price-savers. If I can buy three bottles of milk for the price of two in the same shop I will buy three. No matter I need less than two bottles for my purposes. I feel satisfied saver because I bought some milk ‘cheaper’ and I don’t even think of the three bottles of milk one will end up in the trash. An example of smaller restaurant portions is good, too.
We waste food, and not only food, because we can afford it. People who loose their jobs and incomes waste less because saving and economy thinking helps them survive hard times.
And we forget one thing: we would have possessed nothing if it were not given to us earlier. If we waste goods we are given we become unworthy of further gifts. No matter if we live in United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Poland or China.
I posted some reflections regarding how we treat the food and water we have that so many others lack on my blog here: http://susanjoan.wordpress.com/2008/05/22/how-we-use-what-others-lack/. Although may be hard to get traction in this country on issues like food and water waste, it should not be hard for people of faith to see the need to change our consumption patterns and to stop taking for granted that which so many die for lack of.