Did you know that In the United States alone, we waste 80 million tons of food every year, or 149 billion meals. We toss over $444 billion worth of food every year. In all, we waste 38% of all the food in America.
When I began composting my food scraps I was completely surprised by the amount of waste I collected every day. It includes leftovers from meals, scraps from chopped vegetables, egg shells, banana skins, stale bread, etc. It’s at least 2 if not 3 gallons of waste and that is for a family of 2.
We don’t need to grow more food in America; we need to use it more wisely. Today climate- and food- conscious organizations are looking into ways to use food more efficiently so no one goes hungry. #TooGoodToGo works with farms, restaurants and stores to sell their leftover goods at drastically reduced prices rather than send these unsellable foods to the trash bin. Other apps include FoodWise and Save me|Food at the discount, among others.
There is an activist organization highlighting this challenge in the first week of April with a national Food Waste Prevention Week. They’ve listed webinars on several topics.
Among the topics:
Food Waste Prevention Summit: No Food is Left Behind
Harnessing the Power of Community Fridges
Smash Boom Best - Food Waste Prevention Hacks for Our Home and School Lunches
Connecting the Dots between Wasted Food, Hunger, and the Climate Emergency
Follow the link above to find a complete list and links to register for the webinars that most interest you.