I've worked in food services in a few different places and it always bothered me to see wasted food. I don't mean when a customer would leave half a sandwich or what have you. If they don't want to eat half of what they paid for, it's not my problem. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But whenever I'd have to throw out perfectly good food because it was past the store's standard of freshness, I'd always feel a twinge of guilt. Here I was tossing away a perfectly good cookie, and there are families and people who are barely able to provide themselves with sustenance. Not only that, but there was a lot of resources put into just making that one cookie. The labor used to harvest the flour, sugar, eggs, etc. The fossil fuels used to transport those materials. The energy to produce the cookie dough. The electricity for the oven to bake the cookies. All wasted. "Getting food to our tables eats up 10 percent of the total U.S. energy budget, uses 50 percent of U.S. land, and swallows 80 percent of freshwater consumed in the United States. Yet, 40 percent of food in the United States today goes uneaten." (x) The wasted food is also thrown into a landfill which contributes 16% of the United State's total methane emissions.
This food waste dilemma doesn't just pertain to restaurants, but also to grocery stores and supermarkets. I've heard stories from friends who work in grocery stores about the tremendous amount of produce and even packaged food like granola bars being thrown out. Supermarkets throw out food for a plethora of reasons consisting of not being cosmetically appealing, over stocked items, food that has passed the sell by date but is still perfectly good, unpopular items, and damaged packaged items. Instead of just throwing these items out, stores could make a discount or bargain section for damaged, outdated, or unpopular items. They could also donate these items to local food banks or shelters and do a great deal of help for their communities.
In the UK, Tesco has developed an ethylene absorbing strip that can be used in the packaging of produce. Ethylene is the chemical that causes fruit to ripen. This strip would enable longer shelf life for fruits and vegetables not only in grocery stores, but also in consumers' homes.
Consumers also need to educate themselves more and even change their perspectives on purchasing food. If consumers were willing to buy less than perfect looking food, that would already do a huge deal to reduce waste. Also, confusion on when to throw food out is a big issue among consumers. Just because a food item has passed its "best by" date does not mean it is no longer safe to eat. Many people throw food out prematurely due to the expiration date which only states when the food item is thought to be at peak quality.
All in all, there is a lot of room for improvement not only in food service facilities, but also in our own lives. Eat those leftovers instead of tossing them right away. Don't take or buy more than you need, and if you do, donate it to a local food bank or homeless shelter. Compost. Make that stale bread into croutons. Be creative. Play with your food, just don't waste it.
