Essay On Food Waste In America

One of the things that Americans take advantage of every day is the the seemingly endless amount of food. No matter where you go, it is almost ridiculous how easy it can be to get food in America, especially if you compare us to some less developed nations. However, what we don’t think about is how much of that that ends up thrown away and how it effects of the world around us.

Approximately 25-40% of food grown, processed and transported in the U.S will never be consumed and more food reaches landfills and incinerators than any other material. (Food Waste in America) There are many reasons that contribute to the large amount of food going to waste in America. Two of the biggest are the large demand that the “western diet” entails and human

psychology. Companies produce an extremely large amount of food in order to meet the high demands of a culture obsessed with overconsumption.

However, farmers will throw out a large amount of food just because of “cosmetic imperfections”. (Mercola) Why do they do this? Because, a product that doesn’t “look right” won’t sell, because people perceive there to be something wrong with the food if it doesn’t look to their expectations. The farms and grocery stores aren’t the only places where mass food waste occurs. Half of the edible seafood is wasted each year, whether it’s lost during distribution, thrown out cause it’s the “wrong species” or thrown away by consumers. (Mercola) Which leads us to the next place where large amount of food waste occurs, in the kitchens of consumers. According to the USDA the average U.S family of 4, waste more than 2 million calories, which equates to $1500 worth of food

every year and the average American induvial throws out approximately 273 pounds of food annually. (Mercola) All these statistics are disturbing when you consider the families living in the U.S who struggle to put food on their tables daily. Which leads to the first problem about the amount of food being wasted in America, there are those who could use it but, will never see it.
The amount of U.S families suffering from hunger has been increasing in recent decades. As of 2012 the number of people suffering from hunger in the U.S has increased to 48 million, which is five times more since the 1960’s and a 57 percent increase since the late 1990’s. (McMillan) On top of that, a recent survey has shown that one in six Americans report running out of food at least once a year. (McMillan) You may be asking yourself, how in a country famous for being a land of plenty can have such a large hunger problem. Well, it all comes down to the economy, the cost of living has gone up while wages have not, thus making it harder for lower or even middle income families to put food on the table. Now imagine if there was a way to bring the food amount of food that is being wasted to the families that need it.
Another problem that comes with such a large amount of food waste is the environmental impact that it can have on our world. For example, when food is dispensed into a landfill, it rots and becomes methane, a strong greenhouse gas with 21 times the global warming potential than carbon dioxide. (Food Waste in America) Another example is the damage to the soil caused by the commercial farming techniques to keep up with demands of the western diet. The cheapest and most subsidized crops are corn and soy, as a result farmers focus on growing these crops and don’t properly rotate their crops which leads depletes the nutrients in the soil. They use commercial fertilizers which add nitrogen phosphorus and potassium but fail to replace any other nutrients in the soil, which slowly lowers the quality of what is being grown. The USDA has been tracking the nutritional quality of our produce since 1950’s and has seen a steady decline over the decades, that they blame on lack of soil nutrient depletion and over reckless use of fertilizers. (How are Food and the Environment Related) Another problem with the commercial farming industry, is the use of environmental toxins known as xenobiotics in their pesticides, herbicides and packaging, all which could lead to damage to the environment. In recent years, America has been increasing receiving food from outside its borders, which increases the amount of emissions due to the burning of fuels required to ship the food from wherever it came from. (How are Food and the Environment Related)
I personally see massive food waste almost on a daily basis.

See I work at a grocery store and just like many businesses throwing away perfectly good food is just daily routine there. The reasons vary from the looks of the product, the product staying on the shelf past its shelf life or a customer returning something after they decided they “didn’t need it” but because of company policy we have to throw it out even if the product is perfectly fine. Every time I see the dumpster at the end of each night I can’t but wonder if there is a better

way.