Rotten jackfruit and tomatoes are sorted at a dump in New Delhi. India loses an estimated 40 percent of its produce harvest for lack of infrastructure. And Americans waste about 40 percent of our food.
Rotten jackfruit and tomatoes are sorted at a dump in New Delhi. India loses an estimated 40 percent of its produce harvest for lack of infrastructure. And Americans waste about 40 percent of our food.
The food world is buzzing today about the latest news on just how often we waste perfectly good food. And we admit, the statistics are pretty depressing.
About 40 percent of food in the United States today goes uneaten. The average American consumer wastes 10 times as much food as someone in Southeast Asia up 50 percent from Americans in the 1970s. Yet, one in six Americans don't have enough to eat. And food waste costs us about $165 billion a year and sucks up 25 percent of our freshwater supply.
That's all according to the report with the not-so-subtle title, "Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill," just released by the National Resources Defense Council.
As we've reported, there are all kinds of offenders in this game, from restaurants to regular consumers and our refrigerators. But we thought we'd bring you some info on what some folks are doing to combat the waste and re-route the food where it's needed:
1. Coffee Could Be Fuel Times Two: Researchers are teaming up with Starbucks Hong Kong and a nonprofit called The Climate Group to turn used coffee grounds and wasted bakery items into fertilizer, plastics and biofuels, according to Fast Company.
2. Gents, Start Your Bikes: Caleb Philips founded Boulder Food Rescue, a group that collects produce and packaged goods that grocery stores consider no longer "sellable" and bikes them to shelters, housing projects and at-risk community outlets. Since September 2011, BFR has rescued more than 128,000 lbs of nutritious food and transported most of that to feed those in need, according to NPR's Participation Nation blog.
3. There's An App For That: Students at Arizona University are developing with a mobile phone app called FlashFood designed to connect restaurants with excess food to community groups in need, according to the blog EarthTechling. And Love Food Hate Waste is a free app for iPhone and Android that offers hints, tips, and recipe ideas to keep home cooks from trashing those squishy tomatoes too soon.
4. Follow that Squash: NPR's Pam Fessler recently brought us this piece on how Wal Mart and Feeding America have teamed up to get fresh but slightly imperfect fresh foods to the needy. And it's got some pretty cool graphics, too, where you can follow an ear of corn and some yellow squash from farm to table.
5. Do I Hear $100? Stay tuned tomorrow for a piece right here and on All Things Considered on how grocery stores are unloading food at auction that is discontinued, seasonal, or near its expiration date, from NPR's Serri Graslie.
What cool anti-food waste projects are you hearing about? Let us know in the comments section.
Green Women's Lifestyle - Yahoo! Shine Recent testing of mercury concentrations in three national brands of canned tuna found that 55 percent of all tuna examined was above the U.S. Environmental ... Health News & Articles Healthy Living - ABC News Get the latest health news from Dr. Richard Besser. Here you'll find stories about new medical research, the latest health care trends and health issues that affect ... JIM ROGERS BLOG Jim Rogers Wall Street King and The Commodities Legend ,Invest in China with commodities Guru Jim Rogers , learn where are the right opportunities , in real estate ... Too Much TV Warning: Overuse of sarcasm may occur Warning: Overuse of sarcasm may occur ... Recent Posts. Pretty Little Liars 214 Photo Recap : Return to Rosewood; The land of know and having nothing ronald wesley maly - the round table Former Des Moines resident Jim Giudicessi, now of Albuquerque, N.M., sent an e-mail about my recent column on Tarzan movies: "Hey Ron....loved your piece about the ... Unhappy Meals - Michael Pollan - New York Times Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. That, more or less, is the short answer to the supposedly incredibly complicated and confusing question of what we ... Too much porn/masturbation cause ED? - Men's Health - MedHelp Hi I m a 28 year old and suffer some degree of ED in recent. I start masturbated since I m 19 and usually use porn as a form of visual stimiulation. I have observed ... Just For Gags Just For Gag contains all the funniest, most hilarious post. It also includes all internet memes, most awkward moments, funny pick-up lines, motivational posters ... 10 Dumbest Things to Eat Real Food Family This was a difficult list to put together, only because there were so many more foods I wanted to add. Pretty much 90% or more of what you find in a supermarket isn ... Ran Prieur Ran Prieur "The bigger you build the bonfire, the more darkness is revealed." - Terence McKenna
No comments:
Post a Comment