Why is there so much food waste in America?
Food Waste in America?
My wife just returned from the store with a wealth of food; meats, cheese, bags & boxes full of things to fill our cabinets with. So much food & more stored in pantries & freezers we could survive for months. I help stow away the items & start preparing dinner. I chop; onions, lettuce, tomatoes, making salad while she cooks pork steaks. Peels from the onion, bad parts of lettuce, fat from the steaks all find their way into the garbage. Just some of the food waste in America.
Then wrappers, bags, paper towels, may other things follow them along, into the waste. The basket is full, almost bulging over, so I pull the bag, & put it into a bigger bag with trash from other rooms, old newspapers, bottles, jugs, wrappers, magazines, countless item fill the large bag in no time. This is one day of food waste in America from my one little house.
This is happening all over the world. Everything we discard filling up holes to later hold shopping malls & urban development. Reams of paper going away, never to be used again. Oh sure, we make pathetic little attempts at recycling: a few cans her & there or some newspapers but it doesn’t matter. None of this little insignificant stuff we do matters.
It very well could be too late to turn back this stupor that we live in.
We have gone for so long with our illusion that the resources that sustain us will simply last forever. My god I’m typing this on a laptop while my TV is on & no one is watching it. Every light in the house is on, even in rooms with no one in them. I am as big a part of the problem as anyone in this country.
Why is there so much food waste in America?
Truth is, everything in that big black bag I just sat out on the curb could (& should) be put to use. We really should not be throwing anything away at all.
It’s going to happen! We are going to run out of food/fuel/materials everything. And yet we go on squandering the bounty of our earth. Living like there is no tomorrow. At this rate there won’t be anything left for upcoming generations.
The problem with food waste
is that it’s not just about the food. We are also wasting natural resources and green energy in the process. We need to find better ways to use this wasted food to create power and other resources.
It is estimated that about a third of the food that we produce and harvest never gets eaten. When you think about the number of resources that go into producing this food, it becomes clear how wasteful and unsustainable these practices are.
We need to change our attitudes towards food waste in America and recycling in order to create a sustainable future for our planet. The Earth’s resources are finite. We are using them up faster than they can be replaced. This is causing environmental problems that we may not be able to solve.
It is important that we take steps to protect our environment and conserve our natural resources. We need to find ways to use resources more efficiently. We also need to develop new sources of energy that do not damage the environment.
Food Waste in America? It is a serious problem.
Food Waste in America? It is a FIXABLE problem.
There are a lot of ways we can help
to preserve our natural resources, and every little bit helps. Here are a few easy ways to conserve energy and save the planet:
- Turn off the lights when you leave a room
- Take shorter showers
- Unplug appliances when not in use
- Drive less, walk or bike more
- Ride share
- Recycle everything you can
- Fix things instead of just buying new ones
- Start a compost heap
- Turn down your heat
- Use LED bulbs (CFL is OK too)
- Grow your own food
- Use reusable bottles
- Properly insulate your home
- And, for the love of God, cut your 6 pack holders
We can all do our part to help preserve our planet, and it’s easier than you think. For more tips and ideas, check out: EPA, DOE, Sustainable