This is what I saw several weeks ago when I went to clean up breakfast. Wasted food. I am sure you are wondering why six or seven bites of bread crumbs really makes a difference, right? It makes a difference when you understand that a few bites of bread is just the beginning of a giant problem we have here in the United States: food waste!
According to Food Production Daily (FPD), Timothy Jones, an anthropologist at the UA Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology and an expert on food loss, says that American households waste nearly 14 percent of their food purchases.
FPD goes on to say, “Fifteen per cent of that [waste] includes products still within their expiration date but never opened. Jones estimates an average family of four currently tosses out $590 per year, just in meat, fruits, vegetables and grain products.”
Amazingly, FPD says, “household food waste alone adds up to $43 billion.” Imagine how eliminating as much food waste as you can might help our environmental problems. “Jones estimates that reducing food waste by half could reduce adverse environmental impacts by 25 percent through reduced landfill use, soil depletion and applications of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.”
With our economy in the dumps, it makes more sense than ever to SAVE MONEY as well as save food waste. It makes more sense than ever that parents must take on the firm responsibility to educate children about how to live more conservatively. They will learn good habits and maybe when they grow up they will be able to support themselves through difficult times because they have this knowledge.
My eight year old and I had a little talk about her bread crust plate and she agreed to only take what she can eat on to her plate and promised not to waste food in the future. Is it perfect? No. I waste, she wastes, we all are relearning that there is a better way to live which saves money and the earth. At least we are trying one small step at a time.
Help your children understand food waste and sustainability – a lesson learned at home with family will last a lifetime!
Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com
crazy! not to say that the packaging usually gets tossed with the food.
although reducing should always be our first goal i believe, we are lucky that we have a municipal composting program that takes and unbelievable amount of 'stuff' from diapers to toast crusts! keeping it out of landfills, on top of any personal composts we have. there's a free compost give away in the spring and they use it on the flower beds in towns /cities within the region. great blog(s) glad i found you!
Posted by: cindy | June 18, 2009 at 07:51 AM