One of the most practical ways to prevent food from going to waste is in dumpster diving. On first impression, many people, myself included, would be repulsed by this term. Jumping into giant trashcans filled with stuff that people don't want? gross. But it is for this very reason that Lars Eighner published his own account of dumpster diving and all its benefits. He tells us about all the little techniques (i.e. when food actually goes bad, as opposed to the expiration date) that he's acquired from this way of life. When you've been exposed, as Eighner shows, to the quantity and surprisingly high quality of food that is thrown away, you realize just how big of food wasters we Americans are. Jeremy Seifer is a more relatable dumpster diver. He has a family and a middle class house, but what gives him insight to our food waste is that instead of buying food for meals, he searches for it in dumpsters. This is not as bad as it sounds. I think I would even allow my husband to do this if it came down to it. Seifer realized how most grocery stores will bundle up all their expired, bruised, or poorly handled food, and throw it all away. He sees this an opportunity to feed his family while also saving money and not letting that food go to waste. Seifer turns out to be a big advocate for charitable organizations that spread America's wealth in trash. He mentions in his documentary, we could feed the entire country of Haiti for seven years with all the food we throw away. It's statistics like that which make you want to conserve your own food and consider the bigger picture of food waste in America. One such person is Maura Daly, who leads Feeding America - our country's largest domestic hunger-relief program. Daly is another who noticed our unnecessary food waste. Her organization relies largely on farmer's food and food processors'. A huge benefit of her cause is that "the reclamation of otherwise wasted fresh produce has steadily risen."
You may not be in a position where you have to go through dumpsters for your meals, or have the ability to begin a hunger relief organization. But even the smallest of saving can help. Such as simply donating leftover food rather than throwing it away. Whatever you do, just consider the 20 million people in the US who go hunger on a daily basis, and see what you can for them.
I am completely with you Levie. I probably would dumpster dive too if it got to that point, but I would let my husband do that (: I like how in your last sentence you mentioned the many hungry people in the USA. Because when many people think of world hunger they think of the third world countries around the world without food and they don't even think about the millions starving in the United States. We are a very rich and prosperous nation even though we may be going through an economy crisis and to have many children and adults dying of starvation everyday is crazy and it should not be happening. If everyone just put in a small effort to cut down their food waste, just imagine the difference we could make.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we waste way too much food, but would people actually take our leftovers off of our plate from dinner? I think that a better way to help would be simply just taking less. America is in a habit of taking way more than they need, and in result we often throw the rest away.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Levie and I actually made some of the same arguements in my own blog. Many Americans are becoming more and more wasteful as decades pass and it is becoming a hazardous problem. And to reply to Olivia's comment when she says "would people actually take our leftovers off of our plate from dinner?" no i do not think that but people need to take smaller portions on their plate. Eat a little at a time then get more if needed.
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