We’ve all been subject to the disgruntled chant of our mothers, “Clean your plate. Eat your vegetables. Blah Blah Blah.” Growing up, these words were often ignored as we bypassed the steamed broccoli to reach for another slice of chocolate cake. However, with food security and waste becoming increasing concerns facing our planet, it’s time to re-evaluate the truth of these remarks.
Food Foolish by John M. Mandyck and Eric B. Schultz describes the intricate relationship between food waste and hunger. As this book highlights, four billion tons of food fit to be consumed are produced each ear, yet 1.3 billion tons go to waste. Furthermore, most of this waste – eighty-five percent – comes from plant based sources. The bottom line is this, food production is not the problem facing our world today. Rather, food distribution is the underlying issue. While we continue to disregard the gravity of this matter, the negative effects are escalating – and quickly. According to the World Food Program, 795 million people do not have enough to eat. Now, I’ll reiterate the point made earlier: this is not due to a lack of food, but rather an unbalanced distribution of the abundance of food that we have on our planet.
At this point, you’re probably thinking, How does this affect my life? What can I do? I’m just a broke college student trying to get by on Ramen and EasyMac. The bottom line is this: we make choices each and every day. We choose what to eat, how much we are going to eat and what we are going to do with what we might not finish. We’re surrounded by cafeterias, unions, restaurants and food trucks brimming with cuisine. It’s no exaggeration that we often choose more than we can consume. But the real culprit is the grocery store. As we attempt to save money, we are often caught buying in bulk or buying super-sized products that will likely go to waste before they’re fully utilized. This waste is not only contributing to a global problem, but the attempt to save your cash often backfires as well.
Don’t allow yourself to be engulfed by the notion of consumerism – especially when food is involved. This may be a global issue, but we fight modest battles in the war on consumption each and every day. Maybe your personal choices won’t end world hunger or bring food security concerns to a screeching halt. But each small step we take towards a less wasteful lifestyle brings us that much closer to a solution.
