This past weekend, I was forced to throw away a package of
pepperonis and large bag of mozzarella cheese, both which I purchased some time
ago to make pizzas. Instead of feeding my friends and family like intended, I
was feeding the dump. I HATE wasting food, I have always hated it. Now that I’m
an adult and buy my own food, I also have another pet peeve: wasting money on
food that I ended up throwing away. Whenever we waste food, we do two things:
1) We waste our money.
2) We contribute to the landfill.
As I got all worked up about my wasteful experience, I
decided that I wanted to write about food waste this week. It may not come to a
surprise to anyone, but Americans can be pretty wasteful.
According to the EPA in 2010, more than 34 million
tons of food waste was generated, more than any other material category but
paper. That’s a whole lot wasted food, but other specialists think that food
waste is much great. Jonathan Bloom, creator of WastedFood.com and author of
the 2010 book “American Wasteland”, says that Americans waste as much as half
of the food produced every year. Somewhere between 160 and 295 billion pounds
of food is thrown away every single year, which is the equivalent of filling a
90,000 seat football stadium to the brim at least once every single day.
Regardless of who is more accurate, our careless food habits are having a
negative effect on the environment as well as our pocket books.
Environmental Concerns
Environmental Concerns
When food goes to the land fill, it not only takes up a lot of
space but it also rots. As it goes through this breaking down process, the food
releases green house gases. Landfills are a major source of human-related
methane in the United States, accounting for more than 20 percent of all
methane emissions. Why is this bad? It is bad because methane and other gas, when
in large amounts, eats away at our ozone, contributes to acid and decrease air
quality. It all comes full circle, we pollute the ground and it will affect the
air.
Cash in the Trash
Whenever we pour a gallon of spoiled milk down the drain, or
toss that forgotten package of pepperoni in the trash, we are literally
throwing out money. Food costs and inflation are on the rise and not using what
we buy is just making those costs even higher. Once it’s in our garbage, we
have to pay someone to take our trash away. After emptying our cupboard, we go
and buy more food. Do you see a cycle here? We all need to eat, that’s obvious;
but we can spend less on that food budget if we are more conscious on what we
consume.
Later on in the week, we will discuss ways to keep food
fresh, proper ways of disposing food waste, and other ways we can make a
positive impact on our environment, community and daily lives. So make sure to
tune back in to learn more! Here are some other links and sources where you can
investigate food waste on your own time.
At the very least I hope my blog keeps you engaged and
entertained. Maybe if I talk long enough, I can bring a few of you to the
proactive side of life. ; )
Daniel
No comments:
Post a Comment