This Apple Could Have Been Saved

Here’s a field trip for you: After lunch, walk over to the dumpster at your school. Lift the lid and take a look inside. What do you see? Trash, right? Banana peels, ketchup-smeared napkins, plates crusted with pudding.

But wait. Really get your face in there. (You might want to hold your nose.)

What else do you see?

A tuna sandwich with just one bite taken out of it. A half-eaten burrito. Heaps of crispy lettuce, glistening with ranch dressing. Baby carrots sprinkled around like bright-orange confetti. And not one but six shiny red apples.

This is an example of what is typically tossed into one dumpster after just one lunch period, at one school, on one day. Now imagine that one dumpster multiplied hundreds of thousands of times across the country.

According to ReFED, an organization that fights food waste, 80 million tons of food get thrown away each year in the U.S. That’s about 33 percent of all food in the country. At the same time, 47 million Americans experience food insecurity, which means they don’t have enough to eat or don’t have access to enough healthy food.

How is this possible?

Welcome to the maddening problem of food waste.

After lunch, walk over to the dumpster. Lift the lid. Look inside. You see trash, right? Banana peels, ketchup-smeared napkins, plates crusted with pudding.

But wait. Get your face in there. (Maybe hold your nose.)

What else do you see?

There’s a tuna sandwich with just one bite taken out of it. A half-eaten burrito. Heaps of crispy lettuce. Baby carrots. And not one but six shiny red apples.

This is what you would typically see in one dumpster after one lunch period, at one school, on one day. Now imagine that one dumpster multiplied hundreds of thousands of times across the country.

ReFED is an organization that fights food waste. They say that 80 million tons of food get thrown away each year in the U.S. That’s about 33 percent of all food in the country. At the same time, 47 million Americans experience food insecurity. That means they don’t have enough to eat or access to enough healthy food. How is this possible? Welcome to the problem of food waste.

Once most people in the U.S. began buying their food at the store rather than growing it themselves, our relationship with food changed. Today most of us know very little about what happens to food before we buy it.

Our relationship with the food we eat usually begins at the grocery store. There, we expect to find the shelves fully stocked with fresh, beautiful food every time we visit. In fact, we want our fruits and veggies to be as flawless-looking as celebrities on the red carpet. (Who wants to buy a slightly bruised tomato, even if it does taste the same as an unbruised one?)

What most of us don’t think about is that to meet our expectations of shelves bursting with fresh, photo-ready food, stores must order more than they can sell. That means that baskets of perfectly edible produce get chucked to make room for the next shipment. Misshapen—but still tasty—produce often never gets to the shelf in the first place because customers won’t buy it. Instead, it goes straight to the trash. Grocery stores end up throwing away 4 million tons of food a year.     

Meanwhile, on farms, produce that doesn’t look great is left to rot; there’s no point in taking the time, energy, and expense to harvest a crop that no store will try to sell. American farms trash about 18 million tons of food a year.

Most people in the U.S. were now buying their food rather than growing it. So our relationship with food changed. What happens to food before we buy it? Most of us know very little about that.

But at the grocery store, we expect to find the shelves fully stocked with food. And we want our fruits and veggies to be as perfect-looking as celebrities on the red carpet. (Who wants to buy a slightly bruised tomato, even if it does taste the same as an unbruised one?) 

To keep shelves bursting with fresh, photo-ready food, stores must order more than they can sell. That means baskets of perfectly edible produce get thrown out to make room for the next shipment. Misshapen produce is still tasty. But it’s often never put on the shelf. That’s because customers won’t buy it. Instead, it goes straight to the trash. Grocery stores throw away 4 million tons of food a year. 

Meanwhile, on farms, produce that doesn’t look great is left to rot. Why take the time, energy, and expense to harvest a crop that no store will try to sell? American farms trash about 18 million tons of food a year.

Even a lot of the food that does get purchased ends up in the trash. At school, you might toss your half-eaten bag of pretzels because that’s easier than carrying it around in your backpack all afternoon. Your parents, exhausted after a long day at work, might opt to order a pizza instead of cooking the chicken that’s defrosting in the refrigerator. We often toss our leftovers because it’s easier than putting them away.

Each time we throw food away, we are wasting more than just that food. We are also wasting the hard work and resources it took to get that food into our hands. Take water, for example. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), 21 percent of all freshwater in the U.S. is used to grow food that is never eaten.

“When you throw out a burger, that’s the equivalent of taking a 90-minute shower,” says Dana Gunders, president of ReFED. “Throwing out an apple is like taking a seven-minute shower.”

And then there’s the issue of what happens to all the food we toss.

A lot of food that is purchased also ends up in the trash. At school, you might toss your half-eaten bag of pretzels. It’s easier to throw out than carry around all afternoon. Your parents, tired after working all day, might order a pizza instead of cooking the chicken that’s defrosting in the refrigerator. We often toss our leftovers. Why? It’s easier than putting them away.

Each time we throw food away, we waste more than just that food. We are also wasting the hard work and resources it took to get that food into our hands. Take water, for example. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), 21 percent of all freshwater in the U.S. is used to grow food that is never eaten.

“When you throw out a burger, that’s the equivalent of taking a 90-minute shower,” says Dana Gunders, president of ReFED. “Throwing out an apple is like taking a seven-minute shower.”

And then there’s the issue of what happens to all the food we toss.

Remember that dumpster outside your cafeteria? Here’s what happens to all that food inside.

First, it’s probably collected by a garbage truck and taken to a processing center. From there, it’s likely shipped to a landfill.

As it decomposes in the landfill, this food emits methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas. When greenhouse gases collect in the atmosphere, they trap heat from the sun and contribute to climate change. Some landfills have ways to prevent methane from escaping, but they may not be able to catch all of it. This is one of the reasons food waste is among the biggest environmental problems the U.S. faces right now. According to ReFED, uneaten food in the U.S. is responsible for 14 percent of the country’s total methane emissions.

What’s more, while all this food piles up in landfills, people are going hungry. Nearly 14 percent of American households aren’t sure if they’ll have enough to eat each day.

Remember that dumpster outside your cafeteria? Here’s what happens to all that food inside.

First, it’s probably collected by a garbage truck. The truck takes it to a processing center. Then, it’s likely shipped to a landfill.

It decomposes in the landfill and emits methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases can collect in the atmosphere. There, they trap heat from the sun. This contributes to climate change. Some landfills have ways to stop methane from escaping. But they may not catch all of it. This is one reason why food waste is among the biggest environmental problems in the U.S. right now. According to ReFED, uneaten food in the U.S. is responsible for 14 percent of the country’s total methane emissions.

Food is piling up in landfills. But people are going hungry. Nearly 14 percent of American households aren’t sure if they’ll have enough to eat each day.

Fortunately, the problem of food waste is starting to get attention. In the past few years, activists, journalists, and students like you have been sounding the alarm. And that’s great news. According to Andrew Shakman, CEO of LeanPath, a company working to solve the food waste problem in the food service industry, ending food waste begins with raising awareness.

“People need to realize that a convenience-oriented society leads to waste,” says Shakman. “We can change the culture by changing awareness.”

In other words, the more we understand about how our behavior affects our world, the more likely we will be to change.

In fact, changes are already happening. Some schools and restaurants have begun composting or donating leftovers. Some stores now sell so-called ugly produce at a discount. Several states and numerous cities have passed laws aiming to reduce the amount of food that ends up in landfills.

There are ways you can help too. Blend old fruit into smoothies and toss wilted veggies into soups. Put your unfinished chocolate milk back in the fridge to finish later. Save that half-eaten plate of spaghetti for lunch tomorrow.

It will all still taste great . . . and the planet will thank you.

Fortunately, the problem of food waste is getting attention. In the past few years, activists, journalists, and students like you have been sounding the alarm. And that’s great news. Andrew Shakman is the CEO of LeanPath. It’s a company working to solve the food waste problem in the food service industry. He says ending food waste begins with raising awareness.
 
“People need to realize that a convenience-oriented society leads to waste,” says Shakman. “We can change the culture by changing awareness.”
 
In other words, the more we understand how our behavior affects our world, the more likely we will be to change.
 
In fact, changes are already happening. Some schools and restaurants have begun composting or donating leftovers. Some stores now sell so-called ugly produce at a discount. Several states and numerous cities have passed laws aiming to reduce the amount of food that ends up in landfills.
 
There are ways you can help too. Blend old fruit into smoothies. Toss wilted veggies into soups. Put your unfinished chocolate milk back in the fridge to finish later. Save that half-eaten plate of spaghetti for lunch tomorrow. 

It will all still taste great. And the planet will thank you.