Oh the Places We'll Go!

American Wasteland: Ch 5 - 8

             You would not believe how much information Bloom packed into these 4 chapters about waste at farms, restaurants, grocery stores, and homes. I was appalled that some farms leave more than half their crop on the field! Understandably, farms will inevitably lose some crop to weather, pests, diseases, and to my surprise, a lack of available workers to harvest produce that must be hand-picked. However, waste based solely on appearance or so-called standards of “quality” should be reduced. America’s fresh produce industry has become so competitive that farmers and distributers cannot risk selling less than perfect apples (or cucumbers for that matter). Bloom notes incredulously, “Just as retailers won’t take curved cucumbers, they reject straight bananas. Hence, round eggplants are shunned, as are oblong tomatoes.” Who in the right mind would refuse to eat a cucumber simply because it is too curvy?!

Thankfully, Bloom points out some limited measures being taken to prevent tons of produce —fresh from the farm— from ending up in landfills. My personal favorite, gleaning, is done by independent organizations that redistribute leftover produce to the needy.  Companies are also developing robots to harvest fruits in an effort to increase harvest efficiency and solve the problematic shortage of workers.

Next, there is waste at restaurants. To avoid losing money, chefs try to waste as little food as possible in the kitchen, and small restaurants have the flexibility to repurpose leftovers. Hence, much of the discarded food results after the meal is served. We can reduce our waste by always taking home leftovers, but restaurants must also help by reducing their ridiculously large serving sizes (I’m talking to you, Cheesecake Factory). Fast food places are another story because they are often international franchises, so they cannot risk damaging their image by serving say lukewarm french-fries instead of piping hot ones.

Supermarkets are appalling, really. They “cull” items from the shelves sometimes a week before the “best by” or “sell by” date. As if on 03/03/14 that milk will immediately become rancid or that can of soup will explode! Fortunately, 95% of grocery stores reported donating some of their unwanted items to food banks or shelters.

So, what can you do? Go to your kitchen, take a good long look into your trash can and breath in the stench of— you guessed it— wasted food. Though it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to drastically change practices on farms, in restaurants, or in grocery stores, you can definitely reduce your food waste at home. Bloom suggests writing shopping lists, planning meals, saving (and actually EATING) leftovers, and avoiding luring sales at grocery stores that might cause you to buy 3 more pounds of potatoes than you need. If your parents do all the shopping and cooking, then tell them about everything I’ve told you. Tell them that “25% of what we bring into our homes we throw away.” If they’re still not convinced, tell them that “Using USDA figures, that would mean that a family of four squanders $43.75 per week and $2,275 annually.”