FEBRUARY 10-16, 2010 UCW 21
WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM
What are the environmental implications of all the food we throw away here in
the United States?
— Schiller, Cambridge, MA
Food waste is a huge
issue in America, especially in
light of the growing divide be-
tween the profligate rich and
the hungry poor. According
to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Food Loss
Project, we throw away more
than 25 percent — some
25.9 million tons — of all
the food we produce for
domestic sale and consump-
tion. A 2004 University of
Arizona study pegs the figure
at closer to 50 percent, find-
ing that Americans squander
some $43 billion annually on
wasted food. Lead researcher
Timothy Jones reported that
on average, U.S. households
waste 14 percent of their food
purchases. He estimates that a
family of four tosses out $590
per year in meat, fruits, veg-
etables and grain products alone.
Once this food gets to the landfill, it then generates methane, a greenhouse
gas 23 times as potent as carbon dioxide in trapping heat within our atmosphere.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, landfills account for 34
percent of all methane emissions in the U.S. — meaning that the sandwich you
made and then didn't eat yesterday is increasing your personal — and our collective
— carbon footprint.
Furthermore, researchers at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive
and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) concluded in a 2009 study that each year a quarter
of U.S. water consumption and over 300 million barrels of oil (four percent of U.S.
oil consumption) go into producing and distributing food that ultimately ends up
in landfills. They add that per-capita food waste has increased by half since 1974,
and suggest that the "U.S. obesity epidemic" may be the result of a "push effect" of
increased food availability and marketing to Americans unable to match their food
intake with the increased supply of cheap food.
In spite of all this, environmentalists are optimistic that Americans can reduce
their food waste. For one, restaurants and markets are increasingly finding outlets
— including soup kitchens feeding the poor and farms looking for cheap animal
feed — for food they would otherwise toss. Some communities now pick-up and
centrally compost food waste from commercial and residential buildings and put the
resulting nutrient-rich soil to use in municipal projects or for sale to the public. And
a few enterprising cities now have waste-to-energy technologies that extract methane
from landfills for use as fuel.
An extreme reaction to the food waste issue is "freeganism," a movement of
people who live on the food cast off by others. These "dumpster divers" share, in the
words of movement founder Warren Oakes, "an anti-consumeristic ethic about eat-
ing" and not only avoid creating waste but live off that caused by others.
Going freegan might be a bit much for most of us, but we can all take action
to minimize food waste. The University of Arizona's Jones suggests more careful
purchase planning, including devising complete menus and grocery lists, and know-
ing what foods are lurking in the fridge and pantry that should be used before they
go bad. And don't forget that many foods can be frozen and enjoyed later. Jones
contends that if we as a nation were able to cut our food waste in half we'd extend
the lifespan of landfills by decades and reduce soil depletion and the application of
untold tons of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.
CONTACTS: University of Arizona Food Waste Study, www.communitycom-
post.org/info/usafood.pdf; N IDDK, www.niddk.nih.gov; Freegans, www.freegan.
info.
SEND YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS TO: EarthTalk®, P.O. Box
5098, Westport, CT 06881; earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.
emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php.
Wasted Food
From the Editors of Environmental Magazine
"RAGG "OULEVARD &AYETTEVILLE .#
910-323-1791
YOUR BASKETBALL HEADQUARTERS
FOR COLLEGE, HIGH SCHOOL AND
RECREATION TEAMS
YOUR BASKETBALL HEADQUARTERS
FOR COLLEGE, HIGH SCHOOL AND
RECREATION TEAMS
Visit
our
Hope
Mills
Location,
5613
Rockfish
Road.
910.609.1791
YOUR BASKETBALL HEADQUARTERS
FOR COLLEGE, HIGH SCHOOL AND
RECREATION TEAMS
YOUR BASKETBALL HEADQUARTERS
FOR COLLEGE, HIGH SCHOOL AND
RECREATION TEAMS
The
Methodist
Monarchs
will
host
their
"Pink
Zone"
basketball
game
sponsored
by
the
Women's
Coaches
Basketball
Association
(WCBA)
Feb.
13
at
2
p.m.
to
benefit
the
Kay
Yow/WBCA
Breast
Cancer
Fund
and
Cape
Fear
Valley
Health
Foundation
Friends
of
the
Cancer
Center.
The
halftime
program
will
honor
breast
cancer
survivors.
Fans
wearing
pink
to
the
game
will
be
admitted
free
with
a
donation
and
can
buy
"Pink
Zone"
T-shirts
at
MU
basketball
games
or
online
before
the
event.
A
silent
auction
will
be
available.
For
more
information,
call
910.630.7283,
email
djarman@methodist.edu
or
visit
Pink
Zone
central
at
www.mumonarchs.com/sports/2009/1/19/pinkzone09.aspx?id=72.
