Highbrow Magazine - food waste https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/food-waste en About One-Third of the Food Americans Buy Goes to Waste https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/23027-about-one-third-food-americans-buy-goes-waste <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/food" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Food</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Mon, 12/12/2022 - 15:09</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1foodwaste.jpg?itok=WzyfPrSc"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1foodwaste.jpg?itok=WzyfPrSc" width="320" height="480" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">You saw it at Thanksgiving, and you’ll likely see it at your next holiday feast: piles of unwanted food – unfinished second helpings, underwhelming kitchen experiments and the like – all dressed up with no place to go, except the back of the refrigerator. With luck, hungry relatives will discover some of it before the inevitable green mold renders it inedible.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">U.S. consumers waste a lot of food year-round – about one-third of all purchased food. That’s equivalent to 1,250 calories per person per day, or US $1,500 worth of groceries for a four-person household each year, an estimate that doesn’t include recent food price inflation. And when food goes bad, the land, labor, water, chemicals and energy that went into producing, processing, transporting, storing and preparing it are wasted too.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Where does all that unwanted food go? Mainly underground. Food waste occupies almost 25 percent of landfill space nationwide. Once buried, it breaks down, generating methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Recognizing those impacts, the U.S. government has set a goal of cutting food waste in half by 2030.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2foodwaste.jpg" style="height:652px; width:435px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Do experts have something to add to the public debate?</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Reducing wasted food could protect natural resources, save consumers money, reduce hunger and slow climate change. But as an agricultural economist and director of the Ohio State Food Waste Collaborative, I know all too well that there’s no ready elegant solution. Developing meaningful interventions requires burrowing into the systems that make reducing food waste such a challenge for consumers, and understanding how both physical and human factors drive this problem.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Consumers and the squander sequence</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">To avoid being wasted, food must avert a gauntlet of possible missteps as it moves from soil to stomach. Baruch College marketing expert Lauren Block and her colleagues call this pathway the squander sequence.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">It’s an example of what economists call an O-ring technology, harking back to the rubber seals whose catastrophic failure caused the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. As in that event, failure of even a small component in the multistage sequence of transforming raw materials into human nutrition leads to failure of the entire task.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">MIT economist Michael Kremer has shown that when corporations of many types are confronted with such sequential tasks, they put their highest-skilled staff at the final stages of production. Otherwise the companies risk losing all the value they have added to their raw materials through the production sequence.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Who performs the final stages of production in today’s modern food system? That would be us: frenzied, multitasking, money- and time-constrained consumers. At the end of a typical day, we’re often juggling myriad demands as we try to produce a nutritious, delicious meal for our households.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Unfortunately, sprawling modern food systems are not managed like a single integrated firm that’s focused on maximizing profits. And consumers are not the highly skilled heavy-hitters that Kremer envisioned to manage the final stage of the complex food system. It’s not surprising that failure – here, wasting food – often is the result.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Indeed, out of everyone employed across the fragmented U.S. food system, consumers may have the least professional training in handling and preparing food. Adding to the mayhem, firms may not always want to help consumers get the most out of food purchases. That could reduce their sales – and if food that’s been stored longer degrades and becomes less appetizing or safe, producers’ reputations could suffer.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Reducing household food waste is a step that everyone can take to help slow climate change – but consumers may not know where to start.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3foodwaste.jpg" style="height:435px; width:652px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Three paths to squash the squandering</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">What options exist for reducing food waste in the kitchen? Here are several approaches.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>Build consumer skills.</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">This could start with students, perhaps through reinvesting in family and consumer science courses – the modern, expanded realm of old-school home economics classes. Or schools could insert food-related modules into existing classes. Biology students could learn why mold forms, and math students could calculate how to expand or reduce recipes.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Outside of school, there are expanding self-education opportunities available online or via clever gamified experiences like Hellman’s Fridge Night Mission, an app that challenges and coaches users to get one more meal a week out of their fridges, freezers and pantries. Yes, it may involve adding some mayo.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Recent studies have found that when people had the opportunity to brush up on their kitchen management skills early in the COVID-19 pandemic, food waste declined. However, as consumers returned to busy pre-COVID schedules and routines such as eating out, wastage rebounded.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>Make home meal preparation easier.</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Enter the meal kit, which provides the exact quantity of ingredients needed. One recent study showed that compared to traditional home-cooked meals, wasted food declined by 38 percent for meals prepared from kits.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Meal kits generate increased packaging waste, but this additional impact may be offset by reduced food waste. Net environmental benefits may be case-specific, and warrant more study.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>Heighten the consequences for wasting food.</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">South Korea has begun implementing taxes on food wasted in homes by requiring people to dispose of it in special costly bags or, for apartment dwellers, through pay-as-you-go kiosks.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">A recent analysis suggests that a small tax of 6 cents per kilogram – which, translated for a typical U.S. household, would total about $12 yearly – yielded a nearly 20 percent reduction in waste among the affected households. The tax also spurred households to spend 5 percent more time, or about an hour more per week, preparing meals, but the changes that people made reduced their yearly grocery bills by about $170.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4foodwaste.jpg" style="height:652px; width:435px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>No silver bullets</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Each of these paths is promising, but there is no single solution to this problem. Not all consumers will seek out or encounter opportunities to improve their food-handling skills. Meal kits introduce logistical issues of their own and could be too expensive for some households. And few U.S. cities may be willing or able to develop systems for tracking and taxing wasted food.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">As the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine concluded in a 2020 report, there’s a need for many solutions to address food waste’s large contribution to global climate change and worldwide nutritional shortfalls. Both the United Nations and the U.S. National Science Foundation are funding efforts to track and measure food waste. I expect that this work will help us understand waste patterns more clearly and find effective ways to squelch the squander sequence.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>This article was originally published by <a href="https://theconversation.com/about-one-third-of-the-food-americans-buy-is-wasted-hurting-the-climate-and-consumers-wallets-194956" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">the Conversation</a>. It’s republished here with permission under a Creative Commons license. </em></strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Author Bio:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Brian E. Roe is Professor of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics at The Ohio State University.</em></strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Image Sources:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Anna Shvets (<a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-carrying-a-plastic-bag-full-of-fruits-3645591/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Pexels</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Sarah Chai (<a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/crop-unrecognizable-housewife-throwing-waste-while-cooking-in-kitchen-7262910/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Pexels</a>, Creative Commons)                        </em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Peggy Marco (<a href="https://pixabay.com/photos/market-fruit-selection-to-buy-4749215/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Pixabay</a>, Creative Commons)                </em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Yente Van Eynde (<a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-decorating-food-2403391/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Pexels</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/food-waste" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">food waste</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/wasting-food" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">wasting food</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/climate-change" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">climate change</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/environment-0" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">the environment</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/shopping-food" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">shopping for food</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/cooking-food" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">cooking food</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/saving-food" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">saving food</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/eating-right" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">eating right</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/grocery-stores" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">grocery stores</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/shopping-groceries" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">shopping for groceries</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/eliminate-waste" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">eliminate waste</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Brian E. Roe</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">In Slider</div></div></div> Mon, 12 Dec 2022 20:09:09 +0000 tara 11525 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/23027-about-one-third-food-americans-buy-goes-waste#comments To Tackle Climate Change, We Must Rethink Our Food System https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/10106-tackle-climate-change-we-must-rethink-our-food-system <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Fri, 08/23/2019 - 09:42</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1africafood.jpg?itok=lyeNvDJz"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1africafood.jpg?itok=lyeNvDJz" width="480" height="320" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><strong>Op-Ed:</strong></p> <p>The way we produce, consume, and discard food is no longer sustainable. That much is clear from the <a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/wf/click?upn=G62jSYfZdO-2F12d8lSllQB-2BZvRXW6bt4fTN3S7gSSGY66JlIo2F1flwQ-2FhNVsEugRObMvcabbCic9kudEfMqjvY0qso88cjHNGPtFIANI00MR95ZvPFU4S68Pg4uF4G5T_dczMSI1Nh-2BvT0KjVST20s9xl0jpA-2FKd3-2FD1UOPM4vMh8ENondfoVqppJvKop6963PplNf9HgettA43DF-2FPY36wp9T4V1OX4SuN3eY4PcqVo2TwAa-2BxeBZVsZgBfq433RGPbNFPCJO3J4tHWHhhKGtpHrRbWpRLw2N8JV1kg7fr17kqBc-2FOvciSk-2BjYHNRSoaohyub8ltmDj-2BCjlQwnZsKfB-2FDiNtniiw2gARuSt0-2FBQ4TMNPDQP2zVb-2B2OwfLFl99L75WZ9CPNld92tSzBlvn88D8Kgm0I8eGYs5Dec57-2BXbAbGMQAbRNwQIfTsIZBG5RppFsD4Xe7SRnXBj-2FLqMaxM4WZrYBbLcFf9FzljhGfU-3D" target="_blank">newly released UN climate change report </a>, which warns that we must rethink how we produce our food — and quickly — to avoid the most devastating impacts of global food production, including massive deforestation, staggering biodiversity loss and accelerating climate change.</p> <p> While it’s not often recognized, the food industry is an enormous driver of climate change, and our current global food system is pushing our natural world to the breaking point.  At the press conference releasing the “Special Report on Climate Change and Land,” report co-chair Eduardo Calvo Buendía stated that "the food system as a whole – which includes food production and processing, transport, retail consumption, loss and waste – is currently responsible for up to a third of our global greenhouse gas emissions.”</p> <p>In other words, while most of us have focused on the energy and transportation sectors in the climate change fight, we cannot ignore the role that our food production has on cutting emissions and curbing climate change. By addressing food waste and emissions from animal agriculture, we can start to tackle this problem. How do we do that?</p> <p>Livestock production is a leading culprit – driving deforestation, degrading our <u>water quality</u> and increasing air pollution. In fact, animal agriculture has such an enormous impact on the environment that if every American reduced their meat consumption by just 10 percent – about 6 ounces per week – we would save approximately 7.8 trillion gallons of water. That’s more than all the water in Lake Champlain. We’d also save 49 billion pounds of carbon dioxide every year — the equivalent of planting 1 billion carbon-absorbing trees. </p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/1unfoodreport.jpg" style="height:625px; width:625px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>What’s more, to the injury from unsustainable food production, we add the insult of extraordinary levels of food waste: nearly one third of all food produced globally ends up in our garbage cans and then landfills. We are throwing away $1 trillion worth of food, or about half of Africa’s GDP, every single year. At our current rates, if food waste were a country, it would be the world’s third-largest carbon emitter after the U.S. and China. <br /> <br /> To ensure global food security and sustainable food practices in an ever-growing world, we need to reexamine our food systems and take regional resources, such as land and water availability, as well as local economies and culture into account.  To start, the United States and other developed countries must encourage food companies to produce more sustainable food, including more plant-based options, and educate consumers and retailers about healthy and sustainable diets. Leaders must create policies that ensure all communities and children have access to affordable fruits and vegetables. And we all can do our part to reduce food waste, whether it’s in our company cafeterias or our own refrigerators.</p> <p>Technology also plays a part. Developed countries should support and incentivize emerging innovative technologies in plant-based foods, as well as <a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/wf/click?upn=G62jSYfZdO-2F12d8lSllQB2HAh-2BL4qQCB7L4jLsfx-2BAg7PB0Hiaa3rXeCBlMsg4M5qYdDsQq5vMmrDHhyxHkDV-2BYpRXMJe4dCsVTGDqKhNtFk9ae60GK8ixMR0aV-2FkHHf9BTErtJzk72kxmD2GmEWXzlwetcXNirkipP8-2F5YaN4-2F10B7CPaCkI3gtBObEDH1wiXCLUzVNcDd1kWi-2FoQtti-2FMxVFOGcmOv2XP2ONkESzI-3D_dczMSI1Nh-2BvT0KjVST20s9xl0jpA-2FKd3-2FD1UOPM4vMh8ENondfoVqppJvKop6963PplNf9HgettA43DF-2FPY36wp9T4V1OX4SuN3eY4PcqVo2TwAa-2BxeBZVsZgBfq433RGPbNFPCJO3J4tHWHhhKGtpHrRbWpRLw2N8JV1kg7fr17kqBc-2FOvciSk-2BjYHNRSoaohyub8ltmDj-2BCjlQwnZsKZW3yw7wG-2FuehnZY98NX6aG5WlCDPXhbgOcdMIqr1B-2B-2FQ8w1l6Hd1EfuEsS6kYVS29nc7tuoD7fAXS7wT25ENXXFGZn2zit6DZPFXCnw0yHsWHHuLHq5Kk0JypYYBWLYp5W8RBAmKDM1y0cOSC4GirQ-3D" target="_blank">carbon-neutral or low-carbon meat production</a><u>.</u></p> <p>Developing countries, on the other hand, face high levels of undernutrition, as well as limited access to healthy foods. Many nutrient-dense foods (such as fruits, vegetables and quality meats) are highly perishable, often making prices significantly higher than ultra-processed, nutrient-poor and calorie-dense foods. The high cost of nutrient-dense foods creates a significant barrier to healthy diets, as seen in <a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/wf/click?upn=G62jSYfZdO-2F12d8lSllQB2TlNeahEo3m5Z6MRum4Uiv7NzutB3twKmmUgWxEer67_dczMSI1Nh-2BvT0KjVST20s9xl0jpA-2FKd3-2FD1UOPM4vMh8ENondfoVqppJvKop6963PplNf9HgettA43DF-2FPY36wp9T4V1OX4SuN3eY4PcqVo2TwAa-2BxeBZVsZgBfq433RGPbNFPCJO3J4tHWHhhKGtpHrRbWpRLw2N8JV1kg7fr17kqBc-2FOvciSk-2BjYHNRSoaohyub8ltmDj-2BCjlQwnZsKQHS09TupLLTqOBVmaHVuuF2MiiIJr1abV3pDjoizVPyq-2FuMgxN7GtJUa2u529uQutkuU02dyR86xJ1wS9f28N-2BmJdPCRVFP0cEvPhYUbkqgAdrWYyxLJFoWLmz804CvURZwf3FKgyS0nWyHXHF-2BxL4-3D" target="_blank">urban Malawi</a> and <a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/wf/click?upn=G62jSYfZdO-2F12d8lSllQB8FIIDfXSRThQLPtoHp8l-2Bpc2oBWpu-2BJOIfC2c4FuOlw_dczMSI1Nh-2BvT0KjVST20s9xl0jpA-2FKd3-2FD1UOPM4vMh8ENondfoVqppJvKop6963PplNf9HgettA43DF-2FPY36wp9T4V1OX4SuN3eY4PcqVo2TwAa-2BxeBZVsZgBfq433RGPbNFPCJO3J4tHWHhhKGtpHrRbWpRLw2N8JV1kg7fr17kqBc-2FOvciSk-2BjYHNRSoaohyub8ltmDj-2BCjlQwnZsKc1ku20Fw3Uk-2Bq04DO-2FmKPjNolsjN8jcMwrsMqQoWD-2BdS9DGDbpsHJ4BpoaJNP4IGvyenr0VE8bW1a2FsRpXIdpZe-2BW59CivINCP969C9-2FIfzGakDwZ1xr5qBHm1XEX5e2iN4c-2BFRIdmvcFUTOlP6Gk-3D" target="_blank">many other countries</a>.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/1sustainablefoods.jpg" style="height:479px; width:640px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>By promoting enhanced production of healthy and nutritious foods while also improving markets in low-income countries, we can lower prices and increase accessibility of healthy and sustainable diets. Politicians can also tackle systemic inequalities by redirecting agricultural subsidies to promote healthy foods, as well as investing in infrastructure like rural roads, electricity, storage and cooling chain.</p> <p>Change must happen at every level if we want to build a better food system.  International participation and resource-sharing can spread regional solutions across countries. And working for change at the ground level — among individuals, communities, local and federal governments and private entities — can help fight hunger and food inequality firsthand.</p> <p>Yes, our food system is broken, but not irrevocably so.  The challenges are enormous, but by understanding the problem and potential solutions, we can effect critical changes in the ways we produce, consume, and dispose of food.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author Bios:</strong></p> <p><strong><em>Kathleen Rogers is president of Earth Day Network. Dr. Shenggen Fan is director general of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and a Commissioner for the EAT - Lancet Commission.</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Highbrow Magazine</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>--Image Sources:</em></strong></p> <p><strong><em>Numbercfoto (<a href="https://pixabay.com/photos/africa-people-of-uganda-uganda-2665146/">Pixabay</a> – Creative Commons)</em></strong></p> <p><strong><em>EarthDay.org Press Room</em></strong></p> <p><strong><em>Merlyn Seeley (<a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/homesteading-off-grid-living-organic-gardening-organic-turnip-1290">Pixels</a> – Creative Commons)</em></strong></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/food-system" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">food system</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/united-nations-food-report" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">United Nations food report</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/sustainable-foods" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">sustainable foods</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/climate-change" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">climate change</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/global-warming" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">global warming</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/world-famine" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">world famine</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/water-quality" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">water quality</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/food-waste" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">food waste</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Kathleen Rogers and Shenggen Fan</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Fri, 23 Aug 2019 13:42:47 +0000 tara 8921 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/10106-tackle-climate-change-we-must-rethink-our-food-system#comments The Fight Against Food Waste https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/9393-fight-against-food-waste <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/food" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Food</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Mon, 10/08/2018 - 14:50</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/2foodlabels_darkroom_daze_flickr.jpg?itok=ugjimbSw"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/2foodlabels_darkroom_daze_flickr.jpg?itok=ugjimbSw" width="480" height="332" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><strong>Brandpoint</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>Up to 40 percent of food grown, processed, and transported in the United States is never eaten, yet one in eight Americans suffers food insecurity. The average four-person family wastes $1,500 a year on food.</p> <p> </p> <p>Food waste in manufacturing and packaging costs corporations $2 billion each year — plus $15 billion for farmers — while dumping 52 million tons of waste in landfills.</p> <p> </p> <p>The impact of food waste is social, environmental, and economic — children and the elderly are going hungry, natural resources are being squandered and ever-rising costs of food affect both businesses and consumers.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Reducing food waste at home</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has some best practices for families to save money, help those who don’t have enough to eat, and conserve resources for future generations.</p> <p> </p> <p>By making a list of weekly meals and necessary ingredients, shoppers will buy less than they would otherwise and keep things fresh, with less waste. Also, checking the pantry and refrigerator before a grocery shopping trip can prevent buying duplicates of things you already have.</p> <p> </p> <p>Meal prep — washing fruits, chopping veggies, creating portioned servings — can save time and money. Freezing items such as bread, sliced fruit, and meat that you won’t eat immediately can save them from spoilage.</p> <p> </p> <p>Finally, learn the difference between “sell-by,” “use-by,” “best-by” and expiration dates. This can mean the difference between discarding perfectly fine food and filling up landfills, or saving money and feeding your family food that is still nutritious and delicious. If you’ve purchased foods your family won’t eat or just have too much, find a local community program or food pantry accepting donations.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Corporate responsibility</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>Several Arkansas food and beverage industry leaders are taking steps to eradicate food waste, from changing policies and logistics, to rethinking how to use previously discarded foodstuff.</p> <p> </p> <p>Tyson Foods launched “¡Yappah!” this summer, bite-sized chicken crisps made from upcycled chicken breast, rescued carrots and celery puree from juicing or malted barley from beer brewing. Founded in Springdale, the leader in poultry and beef is dedicated to seeking new ways to make more and better food while helping to build a more sustainable food system.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/1foodwaste.jpg" style="height:416px; width:625px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Rizal Hamdallah, head of Tyson Innovation Lab said, “The ¡Yappah! brand mission is unique, important and far-reaching. It was created to inspire people and partners to rethink their relationship to food and how it impacts society. Through this launch, we intend to address global food challenges such as food waste.”</p> <p> </p> <p>The chips come in four flavors — chicken celery mojo, chicken carrot curry, chicken IPA, and white cheddar and chicken sunshine shandy beer — and are packaged in recyclable aluminum cans. The crisps will be available to consumers in October.</p> <p> </p> <p>Bentonville-based Walmart has introduced Eden technology that focuses on tracking the freshness of produce as it travels from farm to wholesaler to retailer to table. Sensors measure and report temperature, moisture and metabolite data, which is then converted to carton-level freshness and shelf-life assessment using FDA standards among other data.</p> <p> </p> <p>Walmart seeks to eliminate $2 billion in waste over the next five years and has already prevented $86 million in waste by using Eden in 43 of its distribution centers.</p> <p> </p> <p>ConAgra Brands — which makes Bertolli and P.F. Chang’s frozen meals in Russellville, Arkansas — has been leading food waste reduction efforts for nearly a decade and achieved an 81.7 percent landfill diversion rate in 2017 corporatewide.</p> <p> </p> <p>“Waste reduction is critically important to our company, and we are dedicated to making improvements throughout our operations as part of our zero-waste strategy,” said Gail Tavill, vice president, sustainable development, ConAgra Brands. “Many byproducts of food preparation are highly valued as animal feed, source material for recycling, energy recovery or composting, or sometimes even suitable for donation to feed people when safe and properly handled.”</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Saving money, time, and reducing waste</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>The bottom line when it comes to food waste reduction: Efficient, cost-effective companies are best positioned to deliver affordable products to consumers; grow, create jobs; and support their communities. Food waste management as practiced by several Arkansas food and manufacturing industry leaders is not only saving money and resources, it’s making a difference in the lives of citizens and people around the globe. And using best practices at home is better for families’ health and their budget.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Brandpoint</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Highbrow Magazine</strong></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/food-waste" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">food waste</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/food" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Food</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/epa" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">epa</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/hunger" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">hunger</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/starvation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">starvation</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/environment-0" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">the environment</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/food-business" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">food business</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/eating-healthy-foods" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">eating healthy foods</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Brandpoint</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Brandpoint; Google Images</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Mon, 08 Oct 2018 18:50:50 +0000 tara 8287 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/9393-fight-against-food-waste#comments