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Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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  • From: liz@allslash.org
  • To: "Healthy soil and sustainable growing" <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Five Simple Things Consumers Can Do to Prevent Food Waste
  • Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2012 10:14:35 +0000

It's hard for me to imagine but there is still a huge amount of waste just
from people putting more food on their plates than they want to eat. When my
work kept me on the road much of the time, I'd see it constantly in
restaurants. People would order a meal that was clearly more than one person
could eat, pick at it, and leave the rest to be thrown out. Granted,
restaurant menus don't make it easy to order small meals, but if everyone
refused to order the large meals, restaurants would change their menus.

An acquaintance of my daughter is a 'dumpster diver,' and has shown my
daughter the perfectly good produce and canned food that she found in grocery
store dumpsters. A net of oranges with only one slightly squishy one, a
plastic-wrapped head of cabbage with no discernible damage or spoilage,
canned vegetables and jars of jam that were still months from their 'Best
Used By' date, and more. This friend told my daughter that more than half of
her family's food comes from grocery store dumpsters, which tells you how
much is being thrown out.

Liz


Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

-----Original Message-----
From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
Sender: livingontheland-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:49:45
To: <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>; <OWL-OldWaysLiving@yahoogroups.com>
Reply-To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing
<livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [Livingontheland] Five Simple Things Consumers Can Do to Prevent
Food Waste


Five Simple Things Consumers Can Do to Prevent Food Waste
http://blogs.worldwatch.org/five-simple-things-consumers-can-do-to-prevent-food-waste/

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), reports that an
estimated one-third of the food produced worldwide for human consumption is
wasted annually. In the United States, an estimated 40 percent of edible food
is thrown away by retailers and households. In the United Kingdom, 8.3
million tons of food is wasted by households each year. To make the world
more food secure consumers need to make better use of the food that is
produced by wasting less.

Food waste remains a large factor contributing to food insecurity around the
world, but consumers can help reduce the amount of food that is wasted each
year. (Photo credit: Back to the Garden Inc)

Today, Nourishing the Planet presents five ways that consumers can help
prevent food waste.

1. Compost: In addition to contributing to food insecurity, food waste is
harmful to the environment. Rotting food that ends up in landfills releases
methane, a potent greenhouse gas, that is a major contributor to global
climate change and can negatively affect crop yields. Composting is a process
that allows food waste to be converted into nutrient rich organic fertilizer
for gardening.

Compost in Action: In Denver, the city contracts with A1 Organics, a local
organic recycling business, to take people’s waste and turn it into compost
for local farmers. Similarly, a new pilot program in New York City allows
patrons to donate food scraps to a composting company that gives the compost
to local farmers.

2. Donate to food banks: Donating food that you don’t plan to use is a great
way to save food while helping to feed the needy in your community.

Food Banks in Action: In Atlanta, Georgia, the Atlanta Community Food Bank
relies on food donations to supply 20 million pounds of food to the poor each
year. In Tennessee, the Second Harvest Food Bank works to reduce waste
resulting from damaged cans by testing the cans to make sure that they don’t
have holes in them that would allow food to spoil. For more on how you can
donate food that would otherwise go to waste, visit Feed America, a national
network of food banks.

3. Better home storage: Food is often wasted because it isn’t stored properly
which allows it to mold, rot, or get freezer burn. By storing food properly
consumers can reduce the amount of food they waste.

Better storage in Action: The National Center for Home Food Preservation
(NCHFP) is a great resource for consumers to learn a range of techniques to
increase the shelf life of food. For example, they recommend blanching
vegetables, briefly boiling vegetables in water, and then freezing them. They
also stress canning fruits and vegetables to protect them against bacteria.

4. Buy less food: People often buy more food than they need and allow the
excess food to go to waste. Reducing food waste requires that consumers take
responsibility for their food consumption. Instead of buying more food,
consumers should buy food more responsibly.

Buying Less Food in Action: Making a shopping list and planning meals before
shopping will help you buy the amount of food that is needed so that you
don’t waste food. There are a number of services that help consumers shop
responsibly—Mealmixer and e-mealz help consumers make a weekly shopping list
that fits the exact amount of food that they need to buy. Eating leftovers is
another great way to reduce the amount of food that needs to be purchased. At
leftoverchef.com, patrons can search for recipes based on leftover
ingredients that they have. Similarly, Love Food Hate Waste, offers cooking
enthusiasts recipes for their leftovers.

5. Responsible grocery shopping: Consumers should make sure that they shop at
places that practice responsible waste management. Many grocery stores are
hesitant to donate leftovers to food banks because they are worried about
possible liabilities if someone gets sick. But consumers can encourage
grocery chains to reduce food waste by supporting local food banks in a
responsible manner.

Responsible grocery shopping in Action: Safeway and Vons grocery chains
donate extra food to Feeding America. Additionally, Albertsons started a
perishable food recovery program that donates meat and dairy to food banks.
The Fresh Rescue program, which partners with various national supermarkets,
has also helped food banks with fundraising in 37 states.

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