What takes up parts of the Earth’s land, pollutes the air, and diminishes resources, time, and money? It may be shocking, but food waste is the answer. No one would think that throwing a few fries and the last bite of a burger away would be a big deal, but when you think of everyone who throws away their leftovers, it adds up. All of the food waste has to go somewhere. It doesn’t just disappear or stay in the garbage truck forever. Everyday people all over the U.S. throw out their food, whether it be restaurants, grocery stores, or households. The real issue is that most of the food that is pitched in the trash could still be eaten, before someone throws it away of course. Sometimes food waste can be avoided by simply not ordering too much
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They weren’t concerned with it at the time, but eventually the problem developed. Their water supply was contaminated and they learned that the waste was contributing to the spread of illness. As the population continued to grow, the amount of food waste increased. Dumping the food waste in a pit or on a hill could not keep happening, so systems to help dispose of it were created. Although these systems “solved” the problem back then, digging up the earth to bury food waste cannot go on for much longer. According to the 2015 Mechanical Engineering-CIME journal article titled “Increasing food efficiency: our food waste accounts for 2 percent or more of U.S. annual energy consumption", a report recently found that the United States ranges from 25 to 40 percent of wasted food and 30 percent of the world’s food is wasted. Households do account for most of America’s food waste, but restaurants and grocery stores throw out just as much damaged or expired food products. These products are not necessarily inedible, but most people will not buy a damaged box of food unless it is discounted. Food waste is not the only kind of waste, but it definitely contributes to the massive landfills. In fact, according to the 2013 Plastics Engineering journal article titled “Plastic packaging and the 'war on food waste'”, the author states, “more food becomes municipal solid waste in the USA than any other single material--more than 34 million tons of food waste was generated in 2010 alone.” Unlike other plastic or paper waste, food waste cannot really be reused, so it becomes the most common municipal solid waste. Over the years, America has wasted more and more food. Although America contributes most of the wasted food, other countries are not innocent. Food wasted by Africa and South Asia is about 10 percent of
They weren’t concerned with it at the time, but eventually the problem developed. Their water supply was contaminated and they learned that the waste was contributing to the spread of illness. As the population continued to grow, the amount of food waste increased. Dumping the food waste in a pit or on a hill could not keep happening, so systems to help dispose of it were created. Although these systems “solved” the problem back then, digging up the earth to bury food waste cannot go on for much longer. According to the 2015 Mechanical Engineering-CIME journal article titled “Increasing food efficiency: our food waste accounts for 2 percent or more of U.S. annual energy consumption", a report recently found that the United States ranges from 25 to 40 percent of wasted food and 30 percent of the world’s food is wasted. Households do account for most of America’s food waste, but restaurants and grocery stores throw out just as much damaged or expired food products. These products are not necessarily inedible, but most people will not buy a damaged box of food unless it is discounted. Food waste is not the only kind of waste, but it definitely contributes to the massive landfills. In fact, according to the 2013 Plastics Engineering journal article titled “Plastic packaging and the 'war on food waste'”, the author states, “more food becomes municipal solid waste in the USA than any other single material--more than 34 million tons of food waste was generated in 2010 alone.” Unlike other plastic or paper waste, food waste cannot really be reused, so it becomes the most common municipal solid waste. Over the years, America has wasted more and more food. Although America contributes most of the wasted food, other countries are not innocent. Food wasted by Africa and South Asia is about 10 percent of