Winegar 1

Emily Winegar

Mrs. Jackie Burr

English 2010, Section 2

10 April 2018

Strategies for Industries and Households to Prevent Food Waste

“About one-third of the world’s edible food is lost or wasted annually” (Vinegar 241).

Food waste is caused by many things, markets, farmers, overproduction, consumers, grocery

stores, date labels and many more. With so many contributors to the growing “63 billions tons of

waste...of which 10.1 million never get[s] harvested... and 52.4 million tons ends up in landfills

uneaten”(Leib et al 1). With such staggering numbers, how can we individually as consumers,

citizens, and lawmakers fight this growing global problem? As the prophet Alma preaches in the

Ladder Day Saint Scripture, only through “small and simple things, are great things brought to

pass.” With such a hard problem to tackle in the world, it is only through numerous small acts to

make an actual difference. Through simple household and food industry efforts, we can

contribute to this mass problem that is shaking our world.

We don’t realize how much of waste we are throwing out in our households, because it

gets taken away weekly. C A Tucker and T Farrelly found in New Zealand that “around 44,000

tonnes of waste is dumped per year (at a cost of $106 per tonne)”(684). That’s just for one

country, but it is much bigger globally. Why do we as consumers waste so much? David Evans

argues that it is become habitual and even cultural for societies to do so (qtd in Lazell 430). Day

routines include food waste, causing whole societies to ignore its consequence. Because societies
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live in a distractive technological world, we as citizens become immune to the environment.

Causing food waste to increase because it is viewed as unimportant (Lazell 430).

Through small means individuals in their households can save food and money by

accurately storing them. Tristram Stuart, a food waste activator and author gave an example of

this, in an experiment that he held with lettuce. With placing one head of lettuce in the fridge,

another on the counter and the last in a vase with water, he observed their health over ten

consecutive days. Finding that only the vase held lettuce was at full health, and remaining to be

in the next two weeks, he concluded that he had found a better way to store lettuce. Evidence of

his conclusion can be found in figure one below (Stuart).

If we encourage consumers to shop, store, and cook smarter, much of the food waste

from households will disappear. Justin Warner, a famous television chef, informs of his

experience with food waste in his position in his interview with Jared Kauffman. Giving

examples such vacuum sealers, spinach loosely packed, and buying only what is needed.

F.1 Stuart’s 10 day experiment. Left bundle of lettuce was kept in the fridge, middle on the counter, and right in a

vase. The far right piece of lettuce stays fresh for the next couple of weeks. Inaccurate storing of produce may be the

answer to why it is one of the top most products wasted.

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Not only do consumers not know how to store food, but most are unaware of the validity

of food labels on our food. Chris Hunt has found that most food freshness labels for companies

don’t show the actual freshnes of the product. In the article ​Food Date Labels​ they define each

label.:

•​ "production" or "pack" date​– date on which the food was manufactured or placed in

final packaging• ​"sell by" date​– used by retailers for stock control.• ​"best if used by" date​ –

generally indicates when the food will no longer be at its highest quality.• ​"use by" date​–

typically used by manufacturers to mean the same thing as “best if used by.”• ​"freeze by" date

– recommended date for freezing.• ​"enjoy by" date​ – this label is used by some manufacturers,

but isn't clearly defined. Or useful for consumers.

Too much food is being wasted because of confusion with the labeling system and food

safety laws. The eat by date just indicates that the food will no longer be at its “highest quality,”

and too many are confused and throw the product away. The Majority of the food that gets tossed

out is from misunderstanding of what the food date label means (Leib et al). Amanda Brown, the

manager at Riverton’s Kneaders Bakery & Cafe, also informs small ways that her little company

decreases food waste. The company does things such as placing the oldest pastries to be sold

first, and putting samples out for customers of the bread that is closest to be be unservable by

policy standards. These actions not only saves their bread and pastries from waste, but also

advertises the company’s product.

Safety regulations and picky restaurant industries contribute to the vast number of food

waste. In the article “Waste not want not,” Elizabeth Royte states, ”[U]pscale grocers have

started running their produce departments like beauty pageants” with the irregular shaped
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produce being thrown out (39). Not only is this perfectly edible and safe food thrown out but

with strict safety regulations, many farmers are scared to donate their surplus.’ For example, a

farmer investing 16,000 pounds of his spinach all gone because a little bit of grass was growing

among it (Stuart). Situations like these, it makes sense why farmer and corporations would

withhold their food. As Leib et al. have found, “regulations can serve as barriers to food

donations because donors and recipients find it challenging to discern which regulations apply to

donated food (32).”

However, there are many ways corporations can donate, and do so in simple ways. For

example, Kneaders, with their leftover bread that they don’t use, get taken to a local animal

shelter. Chef Justin explains on the reality Television Show, “Guy’s Grocery Games,“ that every

couple of shows, the extra meat, produce, or other product that doesn’t get used goes to a local

shelter, or goes to compost (Kauffman). Other ways that have been used to save in Picardy in

F.2 An infographic showing of the massive food waste problem. Five simple steps can be used to decrease the

amount of waste in our communities.

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France is that they have volunteers glean 1,100 pounds of produce that was too small

foregulations to harvest. From this effort, they were able to use their ingredients to help feed

61,000 diners (Royte 41).

As the phrase says, light hands make light work, it is true for food waste. Food waste is

too big of a problem to be overlooked in households and in food industries. It is only through

working in unity doing the small kind acts for humanity that we as a world are able to reduce our

problems. As Chef Justin says, “[H]alf of waste and spoilage is simply about respect...of time...

ingredients and the people who brought them to you... But look at our country. Obviously,

respect is an issue (qtd in Kauffman).

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Works Cited

Brown, Amanda Leigh. Personal Interview. 09 April 2018.

Hunt, Chris. ​Food Date Labels: Consumer Safeguard, or Confusing Waste of Food and Money?​.

GRACE Communications Foundation. Sept 18 2013. Web. 15 April 2018.

Kaufman, Jared. “Food Network Chef Justin Warner Talks Food System, Sustainability, Tiny

Cabbage.”​foodtank​. N.p.n.d. Web. 13 April 2018.

Lazell, Jordon. "Consumer Food Waste Behaviour in Universities: Sharing as a Means of

Prevention." Journal of Consumer Behaviour, vol. 15, no. 5, Sep/Oct2016, pp. 430-439.

EBSCOhost, doi:10.1002/cb.1581.

Leib, Emily Broad, Christina Rice, Jill Mahoney, Alene Anello, Jabari Brown, Robin Cheng,

Erika Dunyak, Daniel Edelstein, Claudia Golden, Candace Hensley, Meaghan Jerret,

Molly Malavey, Sydney Montgomery, Katherine Sandson, Marina Shkuratov, Steven

Xie,

and Conrad Zhong. “Keeping Food Out of the Landfill:Policy Ideas for States and

Localities.”​endhunger​. Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic. October 2016. Web. 13

April 2018.

Royte, Elizabeth. "Waste Not Want Not." ​National Geographic​, vol. 229, no. 3, Mar. 2016, pp.

30-55.EBSCO​host​,search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=1133378

04&site=ehost-live.

Stuart, Tristram. The Global Food Waste Scandal. TED Conferences, LLC. London 2012. Web.

15 April 2018.
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Tucker, C.A. and T. Farrelly. "Household Food Waste: The Implications of Consumer Choice in

Food from Purchase to Disposal." Local Environment, vol. 21, no. 6, June 2016, pp.

682-706. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/13549839.2015.1015972.

Vinegar, Russell, et al. "More Than a Response to Food Insecurity: Demographics and Social

Networks of Urban Dumpster Divers." ​Local Environment​, vol. 21, no. 2, Feb. 2016, pp.

241-253. EBSCO​host​, doi:10.1080/13549839.2014.943708​.