$27 Billion Worth of Food is Wasted Annually: Let's Do Our Part to Reduce That
Filed under: Budgeting & Planning, Economizer, Entrepreneurship, Food & Drink
Have you ever checked out how much stuff travels from your fridge directly to the city waste dump area? All that just because you grab, say, a yogurt from your fridge and see it's three days past its "best-before" date? And have you ever noticed that, when you decide to give your fridge a full clean-up job, say, once in three months, there's stuff in there you wouldn't offer your neighbour's dog?
And what's wasteful in your home is amplified by every household in the country. How much food do we waste as a nation? How does $27 billion a year sound to you?
Now that we're properly outraged, is there something we can do about it? Absolutely. Here's what:
It's not only the raw materials that go into the wasted food, and the backbreaking labour on the farms. There are damages scientists like to call tangential.
Such as?
Such as the fact that farming (or agriculture, if you prefer) consumes almost three quarters of all fresh water used in Canada. One quarter of that water goes into producing waste, a study published in Public Library of Science ONE some time ago said. Effective? Efficient?
But that's not all. The $27-billion amount reflects what scientific statisticians call "terminal" waste. That's the finished product. There's much more waste happening in production. Those numbers are difficult, but not impossible, to summarize. The best estimates are mentioning multiples of the aforementioned $27 billion.
Have we no shame? Just the "terminal" waste surpasses the combined Gross National Product (GDP) of the world's 32 poorest countries.
If you visit a grocery store (especially one that belongs to a major chain) on any given day, you will see people pushing carts that are filled to overflowing, huffing and puffing all the way to the parking lots. That's, say, a week's worth of food. Except, if they had checked out their refrigerators, freezers and pantries before going shopping, they would have found they do not need at least a half of their purchase. Yes, they would reply, but it was on sale. Granted, it was, but since a huge part of it would go to waste, eventually, even the money they had saved was wasted.
It's one of those vicious circles: Canada's agriculture (and North American farming in general) have become so efficient, they produce too much. Still, they can't sell it all at dumping prices abroad, so, they offer it at cheap prices at home. The word "sale" has got some incredibly seductive powers.
Of course, there are many more ways we generate waste. Equipment that doesn't work, transportation losses, you name it. But even so, studies say waste in the home equals more than a half of all waste.
Here's the breakdown, as compiled by Alive magazine:
Scientists say this is a dilemma that is going to require what they describe as "major overhaul of the food chain," whatever THAT is supposed to mean. Responsible scientists say they don't know the answer. They know government involvement wouldn't solve anything. They are aware you can't dictate production limits on farmers. And they are perfectly aware that there's no way anyone can force grocery retailers to stop competing with one another for food consumer dollar.
Should it be the food consumer who would be required to solve the challenge? Not really. But making sure the proportion of waste in the home goes from 51 per cent of the overall waste to much lower figures might be a start.
Liked this article? Don't miss another one. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook.
And what's wasteful in your home is amplified by every household in the country. How much food do we waste as a nation? How does $27 billion a year sound to you?
Now that we're properly outraged, is there something we can do about it? Absolutely. Here's what:
- Check what you've got in your fridge.
- Make sure to check the "best-before" signs.
- Decide what you're going to consume when.
- Do so.
- And if you happen to have stuff in there that might send you to a hospital emergency room if consumed, compost it. If you don't want to do so in your backyard, find out whether there are any composting programs anywhere else in your community. Usually there are. Use them.
- And, last but not least, make sure that you never ever again indulge your shopping whims so much you and your family have no time to get rid of the foodstuffs the way you had been supposed to do, rather than throwing them out.
It's not only the raw materials that go into the wasted food, and the backbreaking labour on the farms. There are damages scientists like to call tangential.
Such as?
Such as the fact that farming (or agriculture, if you prefer) consumes almost three quarters of all fresh water used in Canada. One quarter of that water goes into producing waste, a study published in Public Library of Science ONE some time ago said. Effective? Efficient?
But that's not all. The $27-billion amount reflects what scientific statisticians call "terminal" waste. That's the finished product. There's much more waste happening in production. Those numbers are difficult, but not impossible, to summarize. The best estimates are mentioning multiples of the aforementioned $27 billion.
Have we no shame? Just the "terminal" waste surpasses the combined Gross National Product (GDP) of the world's 32 poorest countries.
If you visit a grocery store (especially one that belongs to a major chain) on any given day, you will see people pushing carts that are filled to overflowing, huffing and puffing all the way to the parking lots. That's, say, a week's worth of food. Except, if they had checked out their refrigerators, freezers and pantries before going shopping, they would have found they do not need at least a half of their purchase. Yes, they would reply, but it was on sale. Granted, it was, but since a huge part of it would go to waste, eventually, even the money they had saved was wasted.
It's one of those vicious circles: Canada's agriculture (and North American farming in general) have become so efficient, they produce too much. Still, they can't sell it all at dumping prices abroad, so, they offer it at cheap prices at home. The word "sale" has got some incredibly seductive powers.
Of course, there are many more ways we generate waste. Equipment that doesn't work, transportation losses, you name it. But even so, studies say waste in the home equals more than a half of all waste.
Here's the breakdown, as compiled by Alive magazine:
- home: 51 per cent
- retail stores: 11 per cent
- packaging/processing: 18 per cent
- transportation/distribution: 3 per cent
- field: 9 per cent
- food service, including hotels, restaurants, and sundry food outlets: 8 per cent
Scientists say this is a dilemma that is going to require what they describe as "major overhaul of the food chain," whatever THAT is supposed to mean. Responsible scientists say they don't know the answer. They know government involvement wouldn't solve anything. They are aware you can't dictate production limits on farmers. And they are perfectly aware that there's no way anyone can force grocery retailers to stop competing with one another for food consumer dollar.
Should it be the food consumer who would be required to solve the challenge? Not really. But making sure the proportion of waste in the home goes from 51 per cent of the overall waste to much lower figures might be a start.
Liked this article? Don't miss another one. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook.
Add a Comment
micah_mayer
Wasting food has a LOT to do with how you were raised...if not, then it has EVERYTHING to do with how you were raised. I'm starting to realize that bad habits you've picked up while be raised are very, very hard to change. These habits are pretty much innate.
June 11 2012 at 5:08 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
RSS Feed
Contact Us
1 Comment