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In September 2015, the US set a goal to reduce food loss and waste by 50 percent. The idea was to reduce the amount of food that ends up in landfills, where it comes from greenhouse gases as it decays, the main factor that causes climate change.
UC Davis researchers looked at government policies across the country and estimated how much food each state should reduce in 2022. goal.
Researchers calculated that, even with the reductions, the US still produces about 328 pounds of food waste per person per year – the same amount of food waste generated per capita in 2016, just behind the EPA and the US Department of Agriculture. announced the intention to cut waste.
These figures show that even our best waste disposal methods are not enough to meet our targets, said Sarah Kakadellis, lead author of the study. published in Natural this month.
To assess how the US is doing to meet its waste reduction goals, Kakadellis and his team used all publicly available data (from ReFED, a non-profit organization that monitors food waste in the US) and estimate based on the current schedule.
The study’s findings were “surprising” given the lack of government policy on food waste, said Lori Leonard, chair of the Global Development Department at Cornell University. “People are trying to do what they can in the states and municipalities,” he said. “But we really need national leadership on this issue.”
Kakadellis points out that the way forward will also need to change the way consumers think about other waste management options – such as composting.
Compost turns organic matter, such as food scraps, into a nutrient-rich mixture that can be used to fertilize new plants and crops. It can be considered a form of “recycling” food, although the end product is technically inedible. This important detail means that consumers must learn to see composting, despite its environmental benefits, as a way to waste food, says Kakadellis.
He said: “I think about the good use of food, which is eating.”
Although it has been touted as a great alternative to shredding your rotten bananas in the trash, composting is classified as a form of food waste by the United Nations and the European Union. In 2021, the EPA changed its definition of food waste to include composting and anaerobic digestion – both of which can take inputs such as uneaten food and turn them into fertilizer or biogas, respectively.
In revising its guidance, the EPA published a food waste record – which shows the best way to reduce food waste and prevent it. This includes things like adding correct labels to food items, so that consumers are not confused when the product they bought is wrong or is not safe to eat. It’s also good to find another use for unsold or uneaten food – such as donating it to food banks or mixing it with pet food, where it can be used to raise livestock (assuming the livestock will feed humans as well).
Composting will always play an important role in diverting food waste from landfills – because those services can accept perishable or rotting food, which food banks, for example, cannot. “It’s not an either/or. They have to go together,” Kakadellis said. “But we’re skipping all those other steps and going to renovate a lot.”
Leonard agrees, pointing out the high costs associated with ensuring the quality of this type of food: from the field where the crops are harvested to the trucks and cold storage that transport the goods. He said: “There is a great power to produce this food.” “We don’t do this to make manure. You know, we do this to feed people.”
Composting, of course, serves multiple purposes and has environmental benefits beyond reducing food loss and waste. For example, it fills the soil. But Leonard says that if more work were done on the prevention side — like, making sure farms don’t overfeed — then the soil wouldn’t be damaged in the first place and wouldn’t need as much restoration.
Both Leonard and Kakadellis emphasize that no tool to avoid sending food to landfills should be on the table. Leonard, who previously worked with the New York State Department of Environmental Protection, once conducted research on environmental protection in other states.
“I asked them if they were encouraging businesses or families to step up to the EPA’s leadership and find better ways to grow their food? And they said, No, no. What we’re trying to do is just get people to do something on the leadership team.” That includes composting.
Until there are more ways to dispose of pre-processed and purchased food, composting may be the best way to reach the masses. “It’s an easy thing to do,” Leonard said. “And it’s probably the best thing to do until we have better protocols.”
This article appeared first Grist to https://grist.org/food-and-agriculture/the-us-wants-cut-food-waste-in-half-were-not-even-close/. Grist is a non-profit, independent non-profit organization reporting on climate change and a sustainable future. Find out more at Grist.org
