Don’t Waste Wildlife

How food waste is trashing the planet (and three ways you can fight it)

Word is getting out that what you put on your plate matters — not just for your own health, but for the health of the planet. People are starting to eat less meat to reduce their environmental footprints and demand for organic foods is higher than ever. Recently another realization has been rising in the sustainable food conversation: What you don’t eat matters, too.

From land and water use to greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, agriculture has literally changed the face of planet. When food is wasted, all of the natural resources that went into its production — including the wildlife and wild places sacrificed to industrial farming practices — are essentially thrown away. And we waste a lot of food: 40 percent of edible food in the United States goes uneaten.

Here’s a taste of what that means for wildlife and the planet:

80 Million Acres of Land Wasted. That’s how much farmland in the United States is currently growing food that’s never eaten. That’s like taking the entire states of Florida and Georgia off the map. We could create 35 more Yellowstone National Parks with that land. That’s a lot of space we could give back to wildlife.

21 Percent of Freshwater Down the Drain. More than one-fifth of the freshwater used in the United States — water that’s crucial to fish, birds and other wildlife — goes to produce wasted food. In a time of unprecedented drought, that’s a lot of water being flushed away. According to ReFED, reducing food waste by just 20 percent could save as much as 1.6 trillion gallons of water.

3 Billion Tons of Carbon Emitted. If food waste were a country, it would be the third top-emitter of greenhouse gas emissions after China and the United States. That’s like adding nearly 3,000 coal-fired power plants to the planet. With catastrophic climate change on the horizon — and climate-sensitive species like polar bears and clown fish facing the threat of extinction — food waste needs to be taken off the map.

So, what can one person do about it? Lots. More than 80 percent of food waste in the United States happens in the home or in restaurants, cafeterias and supermarkets that respond to the expectations and demands of their customers.

Here are three things you can do to help keep food waste from trashing the planet:

1. Don’t Let Your Food Get Funky

Change starts at home. Adopt the “buy what you need, use what you buy” mantra by making (and sticking to) shopping lists and using the food in your fridge before you buy more. Learning how to properly store food will help it last longer. And if your produce does get a day or two past its prime, befriend your blender and turn it into juice or smoothies.

2. Embrace the Unusual

Hundreds of thousands of tons of fruits and vegetables are left to rot in the field simply because they’ll never win a produce beauty contest. Show some love for misshapen apples and carrots with extra appendages — they taste just as good and add a little character to your kitchen. More importantly, let your supermarket know that you want “ugly produce” so more of it makes it off the farm and onto shelves.

3. Demand Standardized Date Labels

If you’ve ever been confused by the difference between when food is supposed to be sold, used or frozen, you’re not alone. Although people often rely on date labels to determine freshness, there’s no federal standard for how date labels are used (except on baby formula). Standardizing these labels will help prevent stores and individuals from trashing food that’s still perfectly safe and delicious.

And, of course, eat less meat and dairy. The more resources it takes to create a product, the more is wasted when it’s thrown away. Animal products may only account for 13 percent of the volume of global food waste, but they’re responsible for one-third of the greenhouse gas emissions and more than three-quarters of the wasted land associated with uneaten food. By investing in more meat-free meals and making meat a side dish instead of the main course, you can support a more efficient, sustainable food system.

As far as environmental battles go, fighting food waste is an easy triple win. It saves resources and wildlife, it saves money and it helps make sure that instead of food going to waste, it’s going to people who need it.

Learn more at DontWasteWildlife.com.

Stephanie Feldstein is the population and sustainability director at the Center for Biological Diversity.