Food Waste

A massive amount of edible food is wasted each day around the world. Here is what I learned, and what I believe about the issue.

Food Waste

I assumed when I started learning about social issues in food that I would write about fast food or sugar, but as I read, the topic of food waste kept drawing me back. It bothered me because it is a problem that we all contribute to, and most of the time we don't even know it.

How significant is the issue?

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 30-40% of the food supply in the United States gets wasted. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says that, globally, 1.3 billion tons of food are lost or wasted each year—that's one-third of all food grown for human consumption.

Waste occurs at all stages of the supply chain from farms to grocery stores to restaurants to homes in which we live. Research indicates that households account for a huge portion of wasted food, even a majority of it in some countries, at 60%, the UN Food Waste Index estimates.

The good:

Talking about food waste has resulted in some actual changes. Food banks in some countries now receive donations of leftover unsold grocery store items. Restaurants can now give away leftover food using apps like Too Good to Go instead of throwing it away. Many schools have also started composting programs, taking food scraps out of the trash and into the dirt, where they turn into good soil rather than bad garbage.

The bad:

Food waste is more than just a moral issue, though. When food wastes away in landfills, it produces methane, a much more harmful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Food waste makes up the single biggest item in United States landfills, according to the U.S. EPA, and around one in eight Americans suffer from some form of food insecurity.

My opinion:

In my opinion, food waste is a problem that we could take concrete steps to address. At home, I could better plan my meals, save leftovers, and only purchase snacks when I am confident that I will consume them. As a society, something we could do is build software to help restaurants reduce food waste — I actually coded an idea like this: https://id-preview--470e96bb-0aba-47f9-a0d3-a55211ebc807.lovable.app/ . I think that is a realistic and practical action that we could take to help reduce food waste across the planet.