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The Impacts of Food Waste

Group Members: Xavier Chombo Soto, Antonio Perez, Kyle Lineweawer, Mayra Jimenez
Almaras
Date: December 20, 2021

It’s a tale as old as time: waste less food, save more money. Sadly it’s not that simple as
food waste is one of the biggest global problems today. The UN estimates “global food waste
causes about $940bn (£770bn) a year in economic losses. While one in nine people remain
malnourished”(Smithers). The numbers are staggering, our inefficient use of resources sticks
out like a sore thumb. When an abundance of food and resources are being wasted and still
over 10% of the world's population is malnourished it begs the question what are we doing
wrong?

Through many hours of research we determined that the three biggest problems resulting in
food waste: pollution in the environment, economic losses, and starvation are all closely
related to one another. The main goal of food conservation is to waste as little food as
possible and find ways to get the food being wasted into the mouths of starving and
malnourished populations while keeping it out of landfills. It would be impractical to suggest
that this goal could be accomplished by simply distributing it to the starving population because
geographical and monetary factors make that rather impossibile, but there are still courses of
action to be taken that can significantly cut down on food waste. Food waste can be reduced
significantly by changes or reform in culture, legislation, supermarkets, and agriculture.

How much food have people wasted?

When looking at the food waste problem we must hold
ourselves accountable before putting all the blame on
big corporations and governments. In a congressional
meeting concerning the topic of food conservation this
was said about U.S. citizens' roles in food waste, “Per
capita, America wastes more than 1,250 calories every
day and 35 pounds of food every month. n2 As a
country, this amounts to up to $218 billion, or 1.3% of
GDP n3, spent each year on wasted food. For a family
of four, this means at least $1500 spent annually on
food they never eat”(House Agriculture Committee
Hearing.) These statistics provide insight on the
impact American's food wastefulness has on the
economy and themselves. This is the result of the
overproduction and consumption of food prominent in
American culture.
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Not only does food waste affect our economy but it also leads to pollution by omitting many
harmful chemicals into the environment. A congressional representative from Maine had this
to say about the topic “It's a travesty that 40 percent of the food we produce ends up in a
landfill where it produces methane”(Rep Pingree). When food is wasted it gets put into landfills
where it’s decomposed by bacteria that produces methane, a gas estimated to be at least 28 times
more potent than carbon dioxide. The same food hurting our economy is wasting away in
landfills, causing pollution in our environment.

A Canadian study aimed to help people reduce food waste implemented something called “Use-
up Days” where participants would make a meal at home with soon to be expired ingredients
once a week. This is what they found “Using the tools and methods provided, participants
reduced their reported food waste by a third..Eight weeks post-study completion, 8 in 10
participants continued to create a 'Use-Up Meal”(Canada NewsWire). This is a great example of
a way people can reduce their waste of food, lessening economic strain and tolls on the
environment.

Where do we start?
Moreover legislation takes a huge part in food waste. For instance, one of schools' major
concerns is the amount of food waste being thrown out by students. That's why there are laws
and bills`wanted to be passed in order to support the reduction of food waste in schools. “Today,
…introduced the bipartisan School Food Recovery Act. This bill will create a new program at
the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to support schools working on food waste reduction
projects. (Congressional Documents and Publications).” Representatives have been pushing bills
like this that can help reduce food waste nationwide in recognition of the environmental and
economic harms of scraps. This bill can give school boards and administrations the resources
needed to educate staff and students about prevention and sustainability.

Label dates also equally participate in the massive amounts of food being wasted “
Representatives Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Dan Newhouse (R-Washington) today
introduced the bipartisan Food Date Labeling Act, a bill designed to end consumer confusion
around food date labeling and ensure Americans do not throw out perfectly good food.
(Congressional Documents and Publications).”
Americans seem to be confused by food date labels resulting in a significant amount of edible
food ending up in landfills according to studies. This bill will reduce food waste by standardizing
date labels on food products, helping ensure food is being used and eaten, rather than thrown out
due to confusion. Reducing the confusion about date labels will also further make sure no one is
going hungry or unknowingly hurting our environment. Consumers also aren't aware of how
much food is being wasted. “Forty percent of all food produced in the U.S. is wasted, costing our
nation $161 billion annually. (Congressional Documents and Publications).” Addressing the
confusion about the labels can help reduce these astonishing results.

Top of the food chain

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When laws require change, the first change is always seen in corporations accommodating for
the changes by law frantically to avoid conflict, which shows how important these laws are.
Hannaford, a now waste-free supermarket, said in an article: “Grocery stores contribute about 10
percent of the food waste created throughout the supply chain, but have an outsized role in how
much food in total goes uneaten through their purchasing decisions and in-store promotions,
many of which encourage customers to buy more than they need, according to a 2019 report
from the nonprofit Center For Biological Diversity.” (Nanos). It's clear many major
supermarkets' only interest is to create income over the huge waste problem we are suffering
through.

This is a clear example of supermarkets looking for their best interests over the peoples, which is
why we also see lots of startup companies starting waste-free. There’s a demand from the people
to create less waste, and we can see this in Nude Foods. “Boulder has got this image of being
really eco-friendly, and yet there wasn’t a zero waste store here… It just kind of feels like a
really obvious place to have one.” (Noble). This just goes to show the people are the only ones
willing to push for less waste, which can reduce waste by significant amounts entirely.

It comes full circle

In addition, when saving waste farmers and suppliers can benefit by
allowing society to further its savings, so agriculture can boost its
production. There are contributors to help reduce the waste of so
much food. “The first grant will help the city develop a blueprint for
increasing production and sale of locally-grown foods, especially in
areas with vacant land and limited food access, among other
priorities.” (Murphy). Reusing or storing food could possibly help
not to waste in general. However, spending money continuously
statistically is more likely to be what causes the increase of the
waste in food and money. Greater composting can lead to better
food supply, such as soil to help agriculture prosper.

In the same way, why throw away good conserved nourishment that could be eaten later? “…we
must all do our part to help people and the environment by preparing only what we need, cutting
down our food waste, and sharing or donating what we can to feed others.” (“7 ways to reduce
food waste”). Families must learn not to throw away food leftovers, but to keep them to use at
another time and thus avoid throwing money away.“Agricultural innovations are helping farmers
and consumers alike prevent the enormous amount of food waste in the world…”(Nierenberg).
With the help of farmers in agriculture, new ways to reduce food waste are being found.
Furthermore it is beneficial to our economy because we are saving money while still reducing
the amount of waste in the agricultural areas. Composting is beneficial to the improvements of
the soil characteristics, meaning we can add better nutrients to the soil, boost plant growth as
well as saving water.

Is it really that easy?

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Some people will say the food industry is a business and that conserving and distributing extra
food that will inevitably be thrown away isn’t profitable for the major corporations selling the
food or the farmers producing the food. They would have a good point too because in an article
that looks at food preservation from the producer’s side it’s said “Reducing food loss, like any
singular focus in a complex system, does not occur in a vacuum and each action comes at a
cost… If reducing food loss takes away resources devoted to farm profitability, it is unlikely that
any grower would choose to participate”( Astill). This is a great point because a system where
producers aren't making enough money producing food could amplify the problems food
conservation aims to stop even more.

Along with that there are also additional labor costs. In that same article it said “Rising wages
and decreasing labor availability may combine to increase the costs to harvest the produce in a
field”(Astill). Because Labor costs are so high, newly grown food is already being wasted so
how would companies be able to afford the labor costs of reused food?

Adding on, why should wasted food be recycled when the majority of it is not being utilized?
“But there are obstacles to overcome before food-scrap recycling programs become the norm in
homes across America. In 2017, food-scrap recycling diverted only about 6% of the 40 million
tons of food waste from landfills and incinerators, according to the Environmental Protection
Agency. (DeCarbo, Beth).” Proving that regardless of the efforts of trying to recycle food, it still
ends up in landfills and incinerators.

Besides that, how can we be sure that companies who are recycling food aren't just doing it for
their own selfish needs (money)? “Reusing food waste instead of dumping it into landfills may
seem like an obvious improvement from an environmental perspective, and producers bank on it
by advertising their products with slogans such as "Fight climate change from your kitchen."
(Zaraska, Marta).” It's reasonable to suspect these companies are only tricking consumers to gain
money. Marketing their products to make consumers believe they are actually helping the
environment, when in reality companies are manipulating them for their own profit.

While it is correct that major producers would only see this as a money attribute and may not
want to put funds into saving resources, there have been examples of outside resources (for
example, FeedingAmerica) who use pocket and community funded money to use this potentially
wasted food to instead make into edible food or donate into places who can turn it into edible
food to feed tons of people in America, even as conventional rather than helping feed lower
income areas. Not only would they take from supermarkets, but farms as well, meaning they
have two major problematic wastes and taking straight from the source, showing we can still
harness the potential of food while reducing waste.

Altogether…
Food waste has been a recurring problem globally that needs to be addressed immediately.
Change in culture Planned bills, corporations being regulated, and agriculture all partake in the
reduction of food waste. There are clear disappointing examples of people ignoring the waste
they create, how laws aren’t addressing this major global issue, how supermarkets see us as

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customers rather than people, and how agriculture suffers from the waste created from the
previous examples.

Yet with this in mind, there are many examples where time has helped the reduction of food
waste such as the laws that restrict such. “Against this background, there is a clear need for
policy and law to take a new look at waste management, and explore new ways in which to
address it.”(Peiry, Khanna, and Sahajwalla). With all this said, no matter how bad things get,
there’s always a solution. Instead of watching the statistics rise and our productivity fall, let’s
stand together and make the right decision and fight for our future.

Work cited:
Astill, Gregory. "Food Loss: Why Food Stays on the Farm Or Off the Market." Amber Waves, 03
2020, pp. 1-10. eLibrary, https://explore.proquest.com/elibrary/document/2504562587?
accountid=143906.

DeCarbo, Beth. "MANSION --- the Great Outdoors -- Counting House: Waste Not, Want Not ---
Food-Scrap Recycling is Helping to Reduce the Flow of Waste into Landfills, but it Doesn't
Catch on Until People Understand how it Works." Wall Street Journal, 24 Apr 2020. eLibrary,
https://explore.proquest.com/elibrary/document/2393980937?accountid=143906.

Fast Food Waste. Torstar Syndication Services, a Division of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited,
Toronto, 2008. eLibrary, https://explore.proquest.com/elibrary/document/1951620278?
accountid=143906.

House Agriculture Committee Hearing. Federal Information & News Dispatch, LLC,
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accountid=143906.

Murphy, Blumenthal, DeLauro Applaud First-Ever Urban Agriculture & Composting Federal
Grant to New Haven. Federal Information & News Dispatch, LLC, Washington, 2020. eLibrary,
https://explore.proquest.com/elibrary/document/2437851091?accountid=143906.

Nanos, Janelle. "Hannaford Says it Now has Zero Food Waste." Boston Globe, 21 Apr 2021.
eLibrary, https://explore.proquest.com/elibrary/document/2515442328?accountid=143906.

"New Canadian Study Finds Canadians can Reduce Household Food Waste by a Third with just
One 'use-Up Day' Per Week." Canada NewsWire, 01 Apr 2021. eLibrary,
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Nierenberg, Danielle. "Growing Solutions: Agriculture's Changing Reputation." Harvard

International Review, vol. 33, no. 4, 2012, pp. 72-75. eLibrary,
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Peiry, Katharina K., Rita Khanna, and Veena Sahajwalla. "Resource and Energy Recovery from
Wastes - Perspectives for a Green Economy." Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 42, no. 6,
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Pingree, Newhouse, Bonamici Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Prevent Food Waste in Nation's
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Pingree, Newhouse, Co-Chairs of Bipartisan Congressional Food Recovery Caucus, Applaud

Presidential Message Promoting Food Waste Reduction in April. Federal Information & News
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