Countries across the world look to France as it leads the way to combat food waste and global hunger.
France has become the first nation to ban supermarkets from throwing away or spoiling unsold foods. Thanks to the unanimous law passed in the Senate, these stores are now required to donate any unwanted or leftover foods to their local charities and food banks.
Stores have also been banned from purposely destroying food in attempts to prevent dumpster divers from foraging in their trash bins. Over the past year, French restaurants and supermarkets have even taken to dosing their leftover food with bleach and/or locking their garbage bins in attempts to stop this.
Supermarkets larger than 400 square meters are expected to sign donation contracts with charities and food banks. Any company that fails to do so could face fines upward of $83,500 or two years in jail.
While this move was made in an attempt to raise food donations in France, the positive environmental impact this law makes is reason enough for the U.S. to adopt a similar policy.
According the the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. wasted nearly 37 million tons of food in 2013. That’s about 20 pounds of food wasted per person each month.
After letting that stunning fact settle let’s remember that the majority of wasted food ends up in landfills.
Landfills account for 18 percent of methane emissions in the U.S., and the largest source of these emissions come from organic waste.
For those of you who haven’t taken high school biology, methane is a greenhouse gas with over 25 times the global warming potential of carbon pollution.
As the amount of food waste being sent to landfills continues to grow this is becoming more of a problem each year in the U.S.
It is impossible to have zero food waste, but allowing supermarkets to donate their leftover produce and groceries means that less food will end up in these landfills, and more food will end up in the bellies of those suffering from hunger and starvation.
In 2015, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported that more than 500,000 people were homeless. This means that 500,000 people needed a safe place to sleep at night, needed fresh clothes, and needed at least one solid meal a day.
While there are several charities and local food banks whose sole existence is to provide the homeless and needy with free meals, just like in France they too are seeing low donation numbers continuing in recent years.
A contract between supermarkets and charities would not only guarantee a continuous supply of donated food, but it would provide them with access to a wider variety of food. Many fundraisers and food-drives ask for non-perishable items, but we all know that a healthy and balanced diet is more than just that.
Even though the EPA and other organizations have made efforts to promote donating food and preventing food waste, there have been very few serious moves in the U.S. government towards passing a federal policy.
Looks like the U.S. should take a few pointers from France.
Until then, this means that the move for the U.S. to limit food waste must start in our homes. If we as individuals become aware of how much is being wasted, it is easier to understand how much as a community we are all wasting and realize what could be given to someone else in need.
If you’re curious about where you can donate food, click here.
