How can Americans save up to $165 billion annually by using food waste?
California Safe Soil has developed a low-cost, high-quality liquid fertilizer made of surplus food from supermarkets that would otherwise go to waste.
THE PROBLEM
Every year, consumers in developed countries waste approximately 222 million tons of food. That is as much as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa. Globally, when going through the process of getting food from the farm to the refrigerator, we throw out about 1.3 billion tons of food a year, or a third of all the food that we grow. In the United States alone, Americans throw out the equivalent of $165 billion each year. Food waste is a continually growing concern in the U.S., with tons of fresh produce being thrown away and turning into organic waste at an alarming rate. Organic waste is not a problem if it is reused through practices such as composting, but when this kind of waste reaches large volumes, it raises some serious red flags about our overall consumption and wastefulness.
50% of U.S. land and 80% of all freshwater consumed in the U.S. is used in the process of getting food from the farm to our plates, yet a whopping 40% of the food produced stateside still goes uneaten. And where does all of the uneaten food go? To landfills, where it will rot and account for a large portion of U.S. methane emissions. And on top of that, 23% of total landfill waste comes from containers and packaging, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. This major squandering of resources, from water and land to energy and labor, all adds to a needless production of greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to the world’s global warming and climate change crisis.
Supermarkets in the United States are definitely the biggest culprit when it comes to the issue of food waste, with 10% of food contributing to the country’s food waste. According to this study, supermarkets in the United States throw away 43 billion pounds of food every year and up to 50% of the produce being thrown out is still edible. Despite efforts to cut down on all of that waste in the U.S., the consumer end of the food chain still accounts for the largest share. The picky preferences of consumers are the main reason behind stores throwing out produce. Even though produce that isn’t perfectly shaped or shiny is still good to eat, people tend to not purchase less than perfect produce when it is on display. This food waste accounts for 8 million tons of waste per year and is costing retailers close to $18.2 billion a year. The biggest problem we face is shoppers demanding stocked shelves, buying more than they need, and generally treating food as a renewable resource. So what can be done to help?
THE SOLUTION
California Safe Soil (CSS) is actively providing a new and improved solution to the problem of food waste created by grocery stores that cannot sell or donate their extra waste. Their unique full-cycle process assists customers with recycling their organic waste, improving store hygiene and reducing costs. They are also working to help agricultural customers to save money by increasing their crop yield and reducing nitrate run-off by implementing their very own kind of organic fertilizer.
This safe, low-cost and high-volume liquid fertilizer product is called Harvest-to-Harvest™ and is made from the surplus food produced by supermarkets. Instead of rotting away in a landfill, 100% of unwanted food, from fresh fruits and vegetables to cold cuts of meat from the deli section, is collected by the CSS team and brought to the company’s plant for processing. The recycled food is enzymatically digested, which results in the liquid soil amendment that is processed in order to be used as a fertilizer that is delivered to the root zone via standard irrigation equipment. CSS’s digestive process is 720 times more efficient than composting, which typically takes 3 months to complete versus the 3 hours it takes for their Harvest-to-Harvest™ process.
The benefits are multifaceted from both a retailer and farmer perspective, with supermarkets who work with CSS becoming waste free and cutting their losses, while farmers can cut labor costs associated with fertilizer application, reduce nitrate runoff on their land, and eventually, increase crop yield. Harvest-to-Harvest™ has already helped farmers increase their yields by almost 35%. This innovative way to reuse food waste has raised $5.9 million in equity capital and has used the funding to move beyond its pilot phase of development with their new manufacturing facility that allows CSS to recycle up to 32,000 tons of food waste each year.
Increasing the efficiency of our food system is a triple- bottom-line solution that requires collaborative efforts by consumers, farmers, and supermarkets alike. If we all work to cut back our food waste and use food that is wasted in a more proficient way through companies like California Safe Soil, we will be doing ourselves and our planet a massive service.
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