Nearly half of the food that is produced in America will be uneaten. Food waste has become a major problem throughout America. Restaurants, grocery stores, and consumers are all at fault for food waste. Food waste is not the only problem our society is facing. Packaging, large amounts of trash, and polluted landfills is causing trouble to America. When food is wasted, most of the time the packaging is too. When the packaging is not recycled it will end up in landfills causing pollution to our environment. But what about food waste?
Foods that are rotten or old that are thrown in the trash will eventually get dumped in a landfill that will raise the greenhouse gas and harm our environment. Nearly 50% of the food in America will go to waste. Food waste has become a major problem throughout our society. Living the zero-waste lifestyle as a college student is a challenge. First, when my roommate and I go grocery shopping we never have a plan. The two of us never plan meals at the beginning of the week before we buy groceries. When we do go grocery shopping, we both tend to have impulsive buys with food.
Most of the time when we have impulsive buys of food; it just ends up being wasted. Secondly, whenever we cook meals we store the leftovers but usually forget about them. We don’t remember we have leftovers because most of the time they are shoved in the back of the refrigerator. I usually end up throwing away the leftovers because they are old and expired. By the end of the week we do not have much food left to eat because we wasted a bunch of food. Thirdly, whenever we waste food it adds up in our trash causing us to take it out once a week. Our trash mostly consists of leftovers, food packaging and much more waste.
Our apartment complex does not have recycling bins to help us limit our trash. If we did recycle our trash, and limit our food waste, it would reduce the amount of trash we take out. In conclusion, my roommate and I could live a zerowaste lifestyle if we both took a stand against food waste. Food waste in our society is not expressed as a major problem like it should be. For instance, many restaurants trash the excess food. Overproduction and incorrectly cooked meals get tossed away every day. Food that is thrown away in restaurants gets tossed in landfills where the food will rot and decompose in the soil causing problems in the environment.
When consumers do not take the uneaten food with them, the restaurant will throw away the food instead of recycling it. In addition, food waste is not only happening in restaurants but also in grocery stores. Grocery stores throw away nearly 50 billion pounds of food in a year. When produce that does not meet the stores requirements, such as the size or the way it looks, it will get tossed in the dumpster. Throwing away the produce is also throwing away the labor put into growing it. There is not enough land to feed our entire population with only so many farmers to grow the food.
Farmers tend to transport the food to stores, which may cause the bruising, and damaging to the produce. Not having a suitable environment or storage can cause food waste from the stores. Customers tend to only buy the “best looking” produce while ignoring the perfectly edible funny looking produce. As a result, consumers play a huge role in food waste. Being unprepared when grocery shopping such as not having a list or planning meals ahead can result in food waste. Throwing away uneaten food at meals instead of storing the leftovers to eat at a later time adds to this problem.
By not knowing the expiration dates of types of meat and produce stored in the refrigerator can lead to consumers throwing away food. To summarize, food waste has become a huge problem in our society. Expressing innovative way throughout society can reduce food waste. First of all, restaurants can reduce food waste by not throwing away the food. Instead of throwing away the food, they could compost the food waste to be used in a resourceful ways in the restaurant. Changing the menu to minimize the quantity of leftovers left from consumers can also contribute to reducing food waste.
Not only will this reduce food waste, but be cheaper for customers. Instead of paying for a meal at full price with tons of food, the restaurant can minimize the amount of food and prices for the customers limiting the food was Following this, grocery stores can take action with a number of solutions to minimize food waste. The transportation of produce and meat should be more suitable for the products so they do not spoil or get damaged. If the produce is bruised or damaged, the store should consider a discount isle to sale these products instead of chunking them in the trash.
Grocery stores could also have a donation box for not only the store to use, but also consumers who need to get rid of some food from home. The donation box could be sent to local food banks to help out the people living in food-insecure households. This will not only stop food waste but also reduce the hunger throughout America. Therefore, consumers need to make greater use of the food that is produced by wasting less food. Consumers could plan ahead before buying groceries such as knowing what meals to prepare and also making a list of groceries to buy can limit food waste in households.
When preparing a meal, instead of tossing the food scraps away, people can use the scraps as compost to use around the household. After a meal, storing the uneaten food as leftovers can be eaten on another day. All things considered, making these changed around our country could put an end to food waste. Food waste is causing many problems around America. Many people do not realize they are wasting food, but expressing the problem throughout our society can raise awareness to put an end to food waste.
Restaurants, grocery stores, and many people are contributing to this problem by not recycling food. Food-insecure households are increasing while food is being wasted every day. Society can stop the food-insecure households by donating food to the food banks. Not only is food waste hurting our society, but also our environment. Food that is not recycled will end up in landfills adding more pollution to our environment. Expressing the problem throughout society can help put an end to these problems
