Anti-buffetAmerican Governments What are the issues?
In United States, millions of households contribute to the food waste crisis which has resulted in the creation of billions of dollars in food waste over the years. Not only that, this issue has a massive impact on aspects of our economy, education systems, agricultural habits, and the environment as a whole. The solution should be to band together with organizations such as the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) in order to reduce 50% of the food waste that is currently thrown out by 2030. What is food waste? Food waste is simply defined—it is the food we discard both intentionally or accidentally. This wasteful practice occurs everywhere; at home, school, the workplace, while shopping, in a restaurant, on a farm, etc. According to the USDA, food waste takes up to 30-40% of the total food supply. Why do we have food waste? Poor planning: People are too busy to properly prepare a list of groceries prior to going to the market resulting in over-buying and food waste due to a lack of planning. Additionally, instead of bringing the leftover food at home for the next day, many individuals continue to eat in restaurants which can often create further food waste. Over preparation: Preparing several meals at the same tine will be more efficient and convenient. However, the food might go bad before eating it and we can grow bored of the same meals. Bulk buying: We tend to buy more when food is on sale even though we don’t really need them. Agricultural production, harvest, processing and distribution: Food waste resulted from damage, spill, transportation, attacked from insects or diseases. How does food waste affect our life? Waste of water: 70% of water is used for agriculture as well as food processing and preparation but most of the food goes to waste. Waste of energy: The U.S. uses a lot of energy for agriculture, the food distribution process, and powering home cooking appliances for food that will not be eaten. Waste of land: Up to a 1/3 of the entire 1.4 billion hectares of the food producing farms in the country’s food products will go to waste every year. Environment:Food waste is one of the contributing factors for global warming and climate change. Food waste ends up at landfills will produce a tremendous amount of methane which can be more harmful than CO2. Political Impact: According to the Press Release No. 0021.18, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agreed to improve coordination and communication across federal agencies attempting to better educate Americans on the impacts and importance of reducing food loss and waste by joining the Winning on Reducing Food Wasteinitiative. How to reduce food waste? From the consumers:
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AuthorUndergraduate student generated content. Blog posting and updating done by Kristina Flores Victor, Assistant Professor of Political Science at CSUS Archives
March 2020
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