Food Responsibility & Waste

Food Responsibility & Waste

Emily Madsen 

Word Count: 1,493 

Responsibility falls under many categories, and comes in many forms. Responsibility has to do with remembering to do daily tasks, giving back to someone who helped you, or something big picture, like reducing usage of a material to save the world. In last week's class, we discussed food responsibility. While discussing this topic, I became more interested, and wanted to look deeper into the chapter.  

In chapter 5 of FOOD by Warren Belasco, the author defined responsibility as meeting one's obligations to others. It is doing the common good because it is morally correct, and accepted. An example of food responsibility can be as simple as paying the bill at a restaurant you dined at, or disposing of the wasted food from your prepared meal properly. Food responsibility has to do with being mindful about food. There are many things that go into a meal, and as Robert Heinlein said, there is no such thing as a free lunch. In the end, we all pay somehow because of the responsibilities that we take on. Someone may give us a lunch, but they are often doing this because we first helped them, and they are responsibly returning the favor. Food responsibility also has to do with how we distribute food and make sure there is enough for everyone.  We must limit ourselves so that we are left with enough for other people. This is similar to the often-thought stereotype that mothers will feed their children their food and be left with little for them, so the children have enough. We must be responsible in our consumption of food so there is enough for others.  

Food responsibility can be found in food waste. People are being irresponsible and wasting much of the food that they purchase each year, not being food responsible. 40 percent of food grown, 10 million weighed tons, in the United States is wasted per year. That is roughly 1.3 billion dollars' worth of food being wasted per year. People are starving, but we are throwing away food because we are buying too much and letting it go bad. The solution to this problem is to buy what we need, and not over shop. This is hard to do, especially when a customer goes to the grocery store without what they are cooking in mind. Expiration dates and sell by dates are different. People assume that the day that their food item says it expires means that they need to throw it out. But in fact, they are wrong. For example, milk is often thrown out before it needs to be. Milk can be consumed safely up to two weeks after the date on the container. The real test is to smell milk and smell if it is sour and should be thrown out. Other foods like pasta, cereal, and cupboard foods, also can last longer than the date listed. Produce is a big part of the total waste. It is being thrown out way before it goes bad.  

Wasted! The Story of Food Waste, a movie by Anthony Bourdain stated that it can take up to 25 years for a head of lettuce to decompose in a landfill. The lack of CO2 in the landfill makes it so the lettuce will not be able to decompose. Food decomposition gives off methane gases which are deadly. These gases are far worse for the environment than the  CO2 gases that cars and farting cows give off. Composting food is way better than just throwing it in the garbage pile. It allows food to breakdown and create new soil. We can use this new soil to create even more healthy nutritious crops. This doesn’t mean that we should still be wasting food. We should still cut back on the purchasing of food so we do not end up wasting it. By doing this, you are saving the environment, wasting less food, and saving your own money. There is no reason not to buy less food.  

In the movie Wasted! The Story of Food Waste, we saw that food responsibly can be done in many ways. The movie showed chefs working to create displays with food that they used, but were also using the waste of that food. They created decorations on plates, and even displays using the food waste. They work hard to use every last piece of the food so nothing goes to waste. For example, a chef used the remains of a green onion to create a dish where he stuffed the green onion stem and created something more out of what would have been thrown out. 

There are many different ways people try to reduce food waste. I also found some other companies that work to reduce food waste. Hungry Harvest finds "ugly" food and sells it at a lower price. The other company I found is Misfit Juicery, which finds unused foods for many reasons and makes healthy juices and reduces the food waste that could have occurred. I formulated a question after reading about these groups: what is the overall impact of these companies?   

Hungry Harvest is a company located in Baltimore, Maryland working to reduce food waste and hunger. Hungry Harvest provides produce and other foods to families in need by setting up reduced-price food markets for those in need to shop at. They have worked to keep over 5 million pounds of food out of land wastes so far. They believe that everyone deserves to eat healthy, fresh food. Hungry Harvest rescues food that would be wasted and uses it to help those in need. The food may not always be the perfect food we see in the store. As shown in the photo above, produce may look "ugly" or the wrong size, but it is still consumable. That is what they are trying to show by selling their products at a lower price. This company is being responsible with food because they are doing the best that they can to make sure the food isn't wasted. We are used to seeing perfect food, especially produce in the grocery store that we forget that food doesn't have to be beautiful to be consumed and nutritious. They sell their food for 20%-40% less than what you would pay at the grocery stores. It is also possible to order food online to be shipped to your home to enjoy. You get to pick what you want in your package, just like if you went to the store and picked out what you wanted.  

Misfit Juicery is another example of a company who works to reduce food waste. This company in particular, makes nutritious juices using food that would normally be turned into food waste. Misfit Juicery partners with farmers, distributors, and producers to eliminate food waste. These juices are not only helping eliminate food waste, but providing a great nutritional drink filled with fruits, vegetables, and leafy greens. Reviews of the drinks also say that they are very tasty, and do not even compare to other juices. They connect with these people and are able to purchase or have donated the food that they are not selling because the food is "ugly." They then create, bottle, and sell juices that are made out of the fresh fruits and vegetables and sell them for profit. The photo above shows the bottled juices, and the food that is considered ugly that they make the juice with.  Doing this, they are being food responsible not only by reducing food waste, but saving money on food. They are using the resources they found to make money, and save the environment by eliminating food waste.  

I found a TV series called Scraps, that focuses on the topic of reducing food waste. An Atlanta chef, Steven Satterfield is very passionate about reducing food waste, and goes on trips and works with other chefs and farmers to reduce food waste. He has written many cookbooks, and done talks about the topic. He stated in the TV show that he wants everyone to know how they can use almost every part of the food before getting rid of it. Reporters say that Chef Satterfield is the face of the movement of food waste reduction. In the show he and another chef got into a van, and went to farmers markets. They taught the people at the farmers market how to buy food. They taught them that food doesn't always have to beautiful to buy it.  

The overall impact of these companies and the TV show is spectacular. They work hard to reduce food waste, and they are very successful at it. They have drawn many Americans into the idea of food waste reduction, and are making the concept very popular. More and more people are becoming aware of the issue, and in turn being food responsible. They are saving people money, reducing food waste, and making it so everyone has the opportunity to enjoy fresh food. Food responsibility is very important and something we should all be more responsible of. It comes in all shapes and sizes, and is important for our environment.