That’s the weight of the food that the average American wastes every month. It includes the half-eaten sandwich you toss into the garbage; the moldy berries you never got around to eating, the half-eaten entrée that the waiter at your favorite restaurant whisks away.
“Would you like a box?”
“No,” we demure – waiving the waiter away, not knowing that 15 percent of the waste occupying landfills comes from restaurants.
Ah. This is the land of plenty and unfortunately in the land of plenty there is plenty of waste. About 40 percent of the food our hard-working farmers produce never reaches our stomachs. And what doesn’t rots in landfills, emitting 17 percent of the methane gas so detrimental to the atmosphere.
As we save up for Priuses, we may not be thinking of something easier – and more cost effective for the environment: Stop wasting food. We’ve got 10 Tips to Waste Less Food. And at the Capital Area Food Bank, when grocery stores misgauge consumer demand and buy more than they want, we distribute what’s left to communities in need.
We’ve asked panelists at our Sept. 27 Northern Virginia Hunger Summit to blog about food waste and how to alleviate it, to raise awareness and compel people to change their habits.
As you scroll through the blogs, please share comments. We need your ideas, feedback, participation and your passion to stimulate a conversation about food waste and why solving it matters.
Our Panelists’ Blogs
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Challenge: Reduce Waste Now Elise Golan U.S. Department of Agriculture |
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World Wakes Up to Food Waste Brian Lipinski World Resources Institute |
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A Food Secure Community in West Philadelphia? Thomas O’Donnell Environmental Protection Agency |
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Next Step for Reducing Food Waste Meghan Stasz Grocery Manufacturers Association |
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America’s Food Waste Problem and Hope in the Food Recovery Movement Ben Simon Food Recovery Network |