I was trudging up the stairs to my apartment after a long night of waiting tables when I noticed a large box sitting outside the door. Upon closer inspection, I saw it had Hello Fresh written on the side. My roommate recently signed up for the food delivery service where fresh ingredients and easy recipes are sent right to your door. I was surprised to see, though, that the box was completely sealed and had "trash" written on it in black marker.
I went inside, trying to mind my own business, but it bothered me. I texted my roommate and asked if she wanted me to bring the box inside.
"Nah it's trash, but thanks anyway."
How odd. I grabbed a pair of scissors and went back outside, cutting open the box. Inside were three bags full of fresh food and produce. There were recipes for sweet potato chickpea curry, meatless bolognese and Greek salad flatbreads. It all looked super fresh and healthy. I peeked into the curry bag and saw a bag of spinach and a whole sweet potato, among other things. I couldn't understand why she wanted to throw this all away.
Here's the problem. According to the USDA Economic Research Service*: "In 2010, ERS estimates that a total of 31 percent, or 133 billion pounds, of the 430 billion pounds of the available food supply at the retail and consumer levels went uneaten, with an estimated retail value of $162 billion. This translates into 141 trillion calories (kcal) of food available in the U.S. food supply but not consumed in 2010. Expressed on a per capita basis, food loss at the retail and consumer levels in 2010 totaled 1.18 pounds of food per person per day, with a retail value of $1.43."
Globally, "the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that one-third of global food production is either wasted or goes uneaten."
Food waste in the U.S. is an epidemic. On the retail level, perfectly good food that may be slightly bruised or look a bit odd gets thrown out because it doesn't look "pretty enough" to sell. Consumers often get confused about "use by" and "best by" dates on packaging. And then there's people who throw out good food just because they don't want it.
This leads to my next issue. According to Feeding America**, in 2015, 42.2 million Americans lived in food insecure households, including 29.1 million adults and 13.1 million children. About 13 percent of households (15.8 million households) were food insecure. Those with children or single parents were at a higher risk of being food insecure. Food insecurity effects every county in the U.S. on some level, and my home state of Texas has a food insecurity rate of 15.4%, higher than the national average of 13.7%.
People very close to me grew up going hungry sometimes. My own father was extremely poor. There's people that I love who are either on food stamps or are considering applying for them, and they are hard workers who are just trying to survive.
That's why being purposefully wasteful is such a disgrace to me. If you are privileged enough to never have to think twice about eating that day, remember those that do. Store your food the right way so it lasts the longest. Share your food with others. Find food banks to donate to. And never throw away an entire box of produce for no reason. Give it to someone in need. Or heck, ask your roommate if they'd like it. Their stomach will thank you.
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