Hey, are you gonna finish that? Exploring Food Waste in America
We’re all guilty of it right? You make a meal, and it just so happens that there’s only a couple bites left and you say to yourself “ehh, that’s not really worth saving…” and scrape it into the trash. Or maybe, you forgot got you already had spinach and can’t possibly eat that much spinach. I mean you’re not Popeye! So you eat some and by the time you’re ready for more, those crisp leaves have turned to rancid mush! (aka straight to the garbage)
There’s a million more common reasons that we as individuals create food waste and they are all pretty common. In fact, Americans are responsible for $165 Billion in food waste per year! Most people don’t think twice about it. Hopefully now you will! I’ll give you some easy actionable tips on reducing your own food waste later, but your individual food waste is dwarfed in comparison to what gets wasted in businesses! Farms, supermarkets, restaurants and hotels all waste ENORMOUS amounts of food! Why? Often it’s less expensive to just throw something away than put in the time and effort to find that food a suitable home. I mean there’s 36 MILLION people that die each year from starvation, I’m thinking they might want in on that action.
I got some other interesting facts for you too. Did you know grocery stores keep about twice as much food as they need to on shelves? Because of this, much of it will pass the sell by date, but ironically enough if they had just the right amount of inventory, people shy away from buying food items when there’s just a few left! “Eww is that loaf of bread single!? GROSSS. There must be something wrong with it! “. Also all of this food that ends up in landfills eventually breaks down and gives off methane which is far more harmful than CO2.
So it should be clear why food waste is such a big problem but don’t fret bromigo, all hope is not lost! Here’s what you can do about it.
- COMPOST
- Just mix that shit in with some dirt in the back yard and your. Learn from this bearded dude with a wild accent!
- DON’T BUY TOO MUCH SHIT
- That way you can actually finish what you do buy.
- DON’T LISTEN TO EXPIRATION DATES
- Things many times don’t go bad until well after they expire. Bread, milk, and eggs to name a few! They don’t mean what you think!
- PUT THOSE LEFTOVERS IN THE FRIDGE
- Didn’t your mamma tell you to finish what’s on your plate?
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By Colin Campbell, ALDA’s Co-founder
Originally published at alda.life.