Food.

Or, as it is known to some vegans and evolutionists as "cannibalism."

The main issue I wish to discuss with all is the amount of waste that food produces.

Ordinarily, if we are too full after a meal, we scrape off whatever food is left on our plate, we scrape it off into the trash. We often do that without a second thought of what that might affect in the global atmosphere. This problem is bigger than most can fathom. According to UNEP, we throw away $1 trillion worth of food. That is astounding. The only acceptable reason one should ever throw away $1 trillion worth of anything is towards the acquisition of Apple. Believe me, Apple Store employees will not be sharing in your sympathy as you would be sharing their frustrations at explaining to customers how to shut off their latest iPhone!

One of the top reasons why we throw away as much food as we do is because we go by the sell-by dates on products. We presume that food and milk that is labeled past the best-by date will not taste good. That is factually incorrect. As a matter of fact, there is no laws requiring stores to remove food from its shelves past the expiration date, it is all subjective based on what manufacturer it came from. Furthermore, aside from infant formula and baby food, the Food and Drug Administration doesn’t require food companies to label their food with any expiration dates. So, best-by dates operate as an unwritten, unspoken rule, such as two men not standing next to each other at a urinal, or staying in the passing lane on the freeway while not passing anybody, or not getting drunk as the boss. That’s reserved only for Debra from payroll, and we all know there’s a present awaiting Debra at the Christmas party.

Another reason why food waste is so high is due to the fact that we believe that the last banana or the last carton of milk left on the shelf is no good, and that the ugly piece of fruit is inedible. And that leads to stores overstocking unnecessarily, leading to more waste. Most of the last items on the shelf are not bad. Take for instance, a French supermarket sold, in April of 2014, ugly fruit at a 30% discount, to great success. It’s the manufacturer equivalent to giving the ugly one a participation trophy just so they feel better about themselves.

Not reducing food waste is bad, and, at the rate we are going, it will lead to this: