While scrolling through Room for Debate the topic about reducing food waste caught my attention. The debate talks about how 40 percent of the food sold to consumers goes into the garbage. This is such a huge problem because they are people out there who could use this food.
All the debaters basically had the same ideas, but the one that I feel had the best opinion on this topic was Dana Gunders. She is a leading expert on food waste at the Natural Resources Defense Council. She actually talked about ideas to help us reduce food waste. The tips she gave were to curb overbuying, store smartly, use everything in your fridge up, freeze food so it can last longer, and understand expiration dates "use by," "best by," "enjoy by" are just telling you when the food is the freshest it doesn't mean that it has gone bad. Usually the food is safe to eat well past that date.
Personally I feel that we should really listen to these tips because a lot of us take food for granted. Since we don't really have to worry about where our next meal is going to come from we throw food without thinking twice. Transporting this food actually takes up a lot of money and resources so we should value it more. There are people out there who do have to worry about their next meal. How do you guys feel about the topic? Do you take your food for granted or do you actually value it ? If you do take it for granted will you start to consider using the tips Gunders talks about?
-Nadia Delgado
You propose a valid argument however, I personally feel that we have a long way to go before food waste is eliminated, especially here in America. Most families within our country are quite large in size, which leads to overbuying or buying in bulk. Not only that but sometimes it's even cheaper to buy in bulk, compared to buying products individually.
ReplyDeleteLet's say that we’re able to collect all the food we don't eat and prevent it from being wasted. How are we going to transport the food to the people who need it most? We Americans may in the smallest circumstance be able to come up with some kind of idea, but I doubt it honestly. Americans are going to do what's most convenient and easiest for them, and in this case, it's simply throwing the food away. Shrinking food waste in our country is easier said than done.
I think most of us take food for granted because we have never experienced hunger. Sadly, I also take food for granted. However, this makes me think of a different debate/question. Do you think obese people are wasting food? I ask this not to shame obese people but there are many people in the world who do not know where there next meals are coming from and yet American not only throws away lots of food we also have the highest obesity rates in the world.
ReplyDeleteI think it's crazy how much food America wastes though both from eating to much and throwing away food. What do you think about eating more then necessary.
We need to stop being so wasteful, and need to start appreciating food more. Most problems can be solved with education and this one can too! People need to be educated about the food waste in the world with commercials and ads that teach them how to not be as wasteful, or they just need to be told about the affects so that maybe they will be more mindful and try to not take food for granted. Restaurants can also try serving smaller portions so that people don’t just throw away the leftover food because a lot of the time, even though we take the food home, it ends up in the trash.
ReplyDelete-Julissa Martinez
I believe we will never be able to eliminate food waste, but there is a possibility for it to decrease. A huge problem I see in our country is our proportion sizes. We have plates of foods that are as tall as a foot, and as wide as a basketball. The amount of food waste a restaurant has is probably disgusting. I see it everywhere I go, some people leave most of their food still on their plate and say they are finished. We are picky and we will not eat what we don't like.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad to think of countries that are struggling, and people that would wish to have a bite of your untouched meal. However, it's difficult to rid the world of this problem because there are so many factors to take into consideration. People would have to stop wasting food, but what about the grocery stores that have to trash the produce that wasn't able to sell? I remember watching a video on youtube about a lady who dumpster dives from grocery stores to provide a meal for the homeless. It was disgusting to see the amount of food still abled to be scavenged. The grocery stores can't argue with the shelf life of a product, so they have to throw it away. Reducing the amount of food waste should be especially addressed by the large corporations.