How much meat thrown away

Even prepandemic, we wasted massive quantities of food every single day of the year. Just how much food do Americans waste? In fact, food is the single largest component taking up space inside US landfills, 6 making up 22 percent of municipal solid waste MSW. Before COVID, it was estimated 35 million people across America — including 10 million children — suffered from food insecurity. With so many people suffering who need basic amounts of food, why do Americans waste so much of their food abundance?

Getting to the bottom of what causes food waste in America is a challenge that traverses the complex landscapes of socioeconomic disparities, confusion, and ingrained beliefs, layered with human behaviors and habits.

Food spoilage, whether real or perceived, is one of the biggest reasons people throw out food. More than 80 percent10 of Americans discard perfectly good, consumable food simply because they misunderstand expiration labels. Compared to the rest of the world, food in the United States is plentiful and less costly, and often this contributes to a general sentiment of not appreciating or valuing it the way other communities around the globe do.

We underutilize leftovers and toss food scraps that can still be consumed or composted. The good news is that several states across the country are taking action to curb food waste and gain food recovery. Legislators in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont have passed laws 11 that restrict the amount of food waste going to landfills. According to the Vermont Foodbank, as a result of the new law, food donations statewide have increased 40 percent.

There is pending legislation in California, Colorado and Massachusetts that would establish programs to fund private-sector composting and organic collection programs. In , the New York City Department of Sanitation expanded upon their organics separation rules, proposing that even more food-related businesses would be required to separate organic waste in an effort to keep nearly , tons of wasted food out of landfills each year.

The city and state efforts are trickling into US school systems too — both Maine and Rhode Island have introduced legislation to reduce the amount of food waste in schools. Food that sits decaying in landfills also produces nitrogen pollution, which causes algae blooms and dead zones.

According to the World Wildlife Federation, the production of wasted food in the United States is equivalent to the greenhouse emissions of 37 million cars. If Americans continue on the same path of food loss, the environmental impact could be disastrous. Solving the increasingly growing problem of food waste calls for upstream solutions that dig deep into the root of the problem. So how do we tackle food waste in America?

The Grocery Manufacturers Association, the Food Marketing Institute, and Harvard University have combined efforts to streamline expiration labels about the quality and safety of food.

Donate food to food pantries or deliver leftovers to people who may need it. Plan meals and make deliberate grocery store shopping lists. Fruits and veggies with blemishes and flaws still taste the same and are typically a fraction of the cost. A few years ago, college cafeterias began to go trayless. Carrying two plates at most rather than trays piled high with all-you-can-serve and all-you-can-eat daredevilry forced students to think about what they really wanted to eat.

The seemingly simple move, which more than colleges chose to adopt, helped reduce food consumption and waste by 25 to 30 percent in some colleges. Still, waste is inevitable. More so, perhaps, because according to the United Nations World Food Program, "there's enough food in the world today for everyone to have the nourishment necessary for a healthy and productive life.

Simply put, "it does matter how much you consume," Mathews says. It is surprising how much water we waste when we throw away some food.

For example, if we throw away an unused egg, we throw away around fifty gallons of water. This is because foods have water footprint. Water footprint is the direct and indirect water that goes into producing a certain food.

A lot of water goes into planting the food, or giving it water to drink if it is an animal. A lot of water is used to produce food and that is why we waste gallons of water when throwing away food.

Animals have a lot of water footprint because they drink water, water is used to grow what the animal eats, and water is used for the farm. People have saved many gallons of water by only getting how much they think that they can eat rather than getting a bunch of plates. You can measure water footprints by seeing how much water a food took to grow. I hope that people won't waste food because it also wastes water and many people need food and water.

It's incredible of how much water are wasted by throwing away 1 small thing. A water footprint is a direct or indirect water that goes into producing food. It's bad enough that were in a drought but gallons and gallons of water is going down the drain because of food waste.

We use water for drinking, bathing, growing food and food. We measure the water footprints by how much water was needed to make that product. Like to get beef we need to bathe the cow, give the cow a drink, and the COWS food. Which to grow THAT food we need water. Plus, That's only the cow. There are eggs, chickens, pigs, wheat, carrots, and much more. Guess what?

Food is wasted every day by millions of people. Some people even throw away some good looking spaghetti. Throwing away food doesn't only mean that water is wasted, wasted food contributes to global warming.

When food end up in landfills, it starts to decompose. When food decomposes it releases methane. Then the methane goes into the Earth's atmosphere and traps in the heat. People should stop wasting food in the future. In response to "This is how much water you waste when you throw away food".

I agree that to much water is being wasted in the food we throw away. One reason I agree is that were taking more food than we can eat. Eat less but better quality meat so that there's less meat to waste and what you do use will be kinder to the planet. Sign up for Meat Free May. Plan meals , write and stick to! Get your portions right and make the most of the food you buy. Store your food correctly to keep it fresh for longer.

Make last night's leftovers today's feast. Don't panic in the kitchen or in the aisles — there's plenty of help out there for shoppers. Love Food Hate Waste is packed with easy ways for individuals to reduce the amount of food they throw away. If you do want to go further and promote better eating in your community, Friends of the Earth has a great EatSmartActionPack full of tips, ideas and resources you can use.

And let's not forget that as consumers we're only part of the picture. Supermarkets need to stop wasting food too. Tesco wasted 28, tonnes of food in the first half of — mainly bakery goods, followed by fruit and vegetables. Supermarkets need to stop over-ordering and demanding cosmetic perfection, and change their marketing strategies for the better, to help farmers and shoppers alike. You probably wouldn't believe me. Maybe you're great at buying only the food you need and making sure any scraps go in the compost.