Food Waste

Both nationally and globally, food waste is a big issue. In 2012, US homes threw away about 35 million tons of food. Before food reaches our homes, at every step of production and distribution, there is some proportion of food lost. Taken together, one report has said that the total food that is wasted in North America is about 40 percent of total production. We devote a lot of resources to grow food in this country, and yet, about 40 percent of it is just wasted.

That loss is huge, especially when we have about 50 million individuals who live in food-insecure households in the United States. If we can reduce some of the food waste, we can save valuable resources and divert them to feeding the hungry in America with nutritious food.

On the macro level, there is a need to improve logistics and transportation so that less food is wasted by the time it reaches the grocery store shelves. Some large grocery chains have agreed to sell produce rejects in their stores. Unsold groceries at grocery stores that are not beyond their expiration dates could be sent to local food banks or areas that are termed to be food deserts so that they are not thrown away, and thus, wasted.

We can also do our part to reduce food waste. If we have unopened canned foods, we can donate them to the nearest food bank. Churches, universities, and community organizations can hold food drives that collect unused, unopened and unexpired food from houses and send them to food banks. These can help in part, to reduce food waste in our communities.