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Food Waste - Overview

Page history last edited by Robert Hackett 3 years, 1 month ago

Front Page / Issue Briefs / Environment and Natural Resources & Health and Wellness / Food Waste / Overview

 

Issue Brief

 

Food Waste - Overview

 

 

Goal Statement   one sentence that further defines the topic


  • To decrease the amount of wasted food (food that is not eaten and reaches the landfill) in all parts of the US Food System: agricultural production, handling and storage, processing, distribution, and consumption. 
    • Secondary or related Goals:
      • Increase access to healthy food in areas of low food security through the redistribution of rescued food. 
      • Decrease the amount of food producing harmful greenhouse gases in landfills.  

 

Local/State/National Information    additional information on this topic at the local, state, national, global level


 

Policy Options / Model Programs   link to profiles of specific policies or program models, grouped by type 


  • Food Recovery / Food Rescue:  Food recovery is one of the most efficient ways to decrease the amount of waste food. Recovering or Rescuing healthy nutrishious food before it reaches the landfill. Food can be rescued through gleaning at farms, along supply routes, at grocery stores, farmers markets, community gardens, grocery stores, dining halls (anywhere edible food may be wasted). According to the statistics from Food Recovery Network, recovering just 15% of wasted food would be enough to feed 25 million people.[1]

 

  • Food Waste Reduction and Prevention strategies include:[2]
    • To do a food waste assessment
    •  Reduce your food waste in the kitchen: 
      •  Reduce over-purchasing of food
      •  Reduce prep waste and improperly cooked food
      •  Consider secondary uses for excess food
      •  Ensure proper storage techniques 
    •  Reduce plate waste: 
      • Modify menu to increase customer satisfaction and reduce food left uneaten
      • Change serving sizes and garnishes
      • Encourage guests to order or take only the food they can consume
      • Go tray-less

 

  • Food Waste Recovery:[3]  
    • Ensure that wastes are managed in a manner that protects human health and the environment.
    • Reduce or eliminate, as expeditiously as possible, the amount of waste generated, including hazardous waste.
    • Conserve energy and natural resources through waste recycling and recovery.

 

 

 

Glossary of Terms   key words or phrases that the layperson needs to know to understand this issue 


  • Closed loop food system -  A cyclical system that is able to produce a high food yield with little or no external inputs. e.g. a farmer allows her cows to graze in a field; some of their waste allows the grass to keep growing, and she uses some as fertilizer for other crops, which makes the crops much more productive etc... This can also be applied to the community level, wherein food waste from food produced in the community, is then used as compost within the same community to increase future production etc... 

  • Composting - the decomposition of plant remains or food scraps and other once-living materials that makes nutrient-rich material; an excellent way to enrich soil and reduce waste. 

 

Footnotes

  1. Retrieved from: http://www.foodrecoverynetwork.org/about-us/our-work/
  2. Retrieved from: http://www.epa.gov/foodrecovery/fd-reduce.htm
  3. Retrieved from: http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/inforesources/pubs/k02027.pdf

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