In an era of growing poverty, homelessness and hunger, it\u2019s amazing how little attention the problem of food waste gets by policymakers.\u00a0 According to a 2016 report (in the Guardian), roughly 50 percent of all produce in the United States is thrown away\u2014some 60 million tons (or $160 billion) worth of produce annually, an amount constituting \u201cone third of all foodstuffs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wasted food is also the single biggest occupant in American landfills, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.<\/p>\n
What causes this? A major reason is that food is cheap in the U.S.\u00a0 In addition, the concern over the appearance of food also drives waste.\u00a0 \u00a0Fruits and vegetables, for example, have a tendency to more easily bruise or discolor and that is a big \u201cno no\u201d for American shoppers.\u00a0 Thus, aesthetically unappealing foods are yanked off supermarket shelves and sent to landfills.\u00a0 The cost is of this food loss is included in the cost of food that is sold and it is estimated that it costs an average American family an additional $1,600 annually.<\/p>\n
Food experts say there is growing awareness that governments cannot effectively fight hunger, or climate change, without reducing food waste. Food waste accounts for about 8% of global climate pollution, more than India or Russia.<\/p>\n
Within the US, discarded food is the biggest single component of landfill and incinerators, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Food dumps are a rising source of methane, a far more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Policymakers admit that they are only beginning to come to grips with the scale of the problem.<\/p>\n
But that growing problem may start to change.<\/p>\n
A recent documentary (\u201cWASTED! The Story of Food Waste\u201d) was released by well-known chefs Anthony Bourdain and Danny Bowien and presents statistics about America’s food waste crisis, examples of policy changes around the world, opportunities in systems from schools to grocery stores, and stories from\u00a0other notable chefs such as Dan Barber and Mario Batali.<\/p>\n
The film examines the growing attention the issue of food waste is having on policymakers in other countries.\u00a0 For example, recently France became the first nation in the world to ban supermarkets from wasting food.<\/p>\n
In that country, large grocery stores must now donate unsold food to charities, a move that will result in millions more meals for France\u2019s needy.\u00a0 The law came on the heels of a grassroots movement by shoppers that aims to expand versions of France\u2019s law to all of the European Union.<\/p>\n
Previously, French supermarkets could trash still-edible food before it even reached its best-before or sell-by dates. (Such dates don\u2019t indicate when a product will spoil, but rather when it reaches peak quality.)<\/p>\n
Supermarkets will also be banned from intentionally destroying discarded food; there had been reports that some French supermarkets had dumped bleach onto throw-away food to prevent others from eating it.\u00a0 The reason, the stores reportedly said, was to prevent food poisoning.<\/p>\n
Other stores secured trash bins to\u00a0prevent people from taking edible food from them, an increasingly popular practice among France\u2019s unemployed, homeless and poor.\u00a0 Now all supermarkets over 4,300 square feet in size must hold contracts with nonprofits or food banks.<\/p>\n
In turn, those charities must collect, stock and properly redistribute the would-be wasted food, added responsibilities that will require more volunteers and more storage space.<\/p>\n
Beyond France, the nation of Italy passed a law to reduce food waste as well, Japan has adopted aggressive measures to curb the wasting of food and South Korea charges residents fees by\u00a0volume for\u00a0their food waste, which is separated like recyclables.<\/p>\n
New York (both the state and the city), which prides itself on environmental sensitivities and which is home to some of the greatest restaurants in the world, has taken steps toward attacking this problem.\u00a0 A comprehensive embrace of the growing global movement to curb food waste could dramatically strengthen those efforts.\u00a0 Done correctly, it could help feed the hungry, curb greenhouse gas emissions, and save consumers some money.<\/p>\n
A win-win-win.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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