What is Food Waste

Food waste is a massive issue with 18% of all waste being food waste in New York with 40 percent of all food in the US being uneaten. Not only does wasting food diminish our resources, but it also contributes to climate change, as food decomposes in landfills, it releases carbon dioxide, warming up the Earth.

What Produces Food Waste

While consumers still account for much of the food waste, over 20 billion tons of food is wasted in American farms per year. Farmers have to throw out many crops due to natural occurrences such as pests and the weather conditions, however, sometimes perfectly good food will be discarded due to profitability. If the price of producing a crop is higher than the cost, thus losing profit, farmers will leave food unharvested.

This process is called dumping in which farmers produce more food than at demand, leading them to destroy edible goods. 16% of all food waste in America happens in farms. This practice was observed during the Covid-19 pandemic in which dairy producers dumped 3.7 million gallons of milk each day as donating to a food bank or charity would be more expensive.

Restaurants, retailers, and institutions such as hospitals and schools create 22 to 33 billion pounds of food waste a year. Grocery stores lose over $15 billion in unsold food alone, however, for most of these stores, wasting food is seen as necessary as large displays of fresh produce attract more customers.  

The largest producers of food waste are the customers as it accounts for 50% of the food waste in America.

Food Waste at Cardozo High School

In the cafeteria, food waste is common amongst students. By 5th period, cans are filled with uneaten food. Alexa Torres recounts, “The garbage is filled with food most of the time, usually overflowing.” With so many students, trash is also left on tables.

Torres believes that the waste is due to students finding the food unappetizing with fruits and vegetables consisting of the most waste. “The food doesn’t taste good, or it’s low quality so no one wants to eat it,” Torres adds. With so much waste, it is better for students to bring food from home.

What You Can Do to Help Minimize Food Waste

Preventing waste can be difficult, especially for students in high school, as it’s the adults around us that buy and keep track of the households. However, there are some actions you can take to reduce wasting food: 

• Accompany your parents when going grocery shopping. It is always good to keep track of the food already available in your pantry and having a list of them can prevent your household from purchasing food that is not necessary at the time. 
• Make soups. They are an easy meal that anyone is able to create. It takes only a few simple ingredients that you might already have. Soups use a lot of vegetables which is beneficial to one’s health and fresh produce is also the most wasted food resource in homes. Ingredients vary to whatever you have at home but the base consists of fresh or frozen vegetables and any broth. Then you can customize your soups by adding aromatics, leftover protein, seasoning, and oil. 
• Understand the labels. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States, there is a difference between “best before” and “use by” dates; the ladder indicates that food can no longer be consumed after a certain date. 
• Take smaller portions. Taking smaller amounts of food can help us prevent throwing out half-eaten food when we have too much on the plate. If you are still hungry, just take more food.