Food Waste

How is food waste a sustainability issue? (WA Q1) Waste resources Land, water, ag inputs, energy to transport and retail, packaging Carbon emissions Landfill space Can push up food prices Deprives GS producers of income Perfectly edible, but ‘flawed’ Lack infrastructure to move food ¤

Combatting Food Waste Change gov’t policies Embrace ‘flawed’ produce Standardize expiration dates In EU- feed livestock food waste Embrace ‘flawed’ produce Improve, introduce technology Collection programs for unused foods Save Food, DC Central Kitchen, Disco Soup ¤

Waste & You In what ways do you waste food? Do you feel differently after the readings? Have you worked somewhere that repurposes unused food or volunteered to transport it? ¤

Recycling & REusing

Why aren’t lights recycled in the US. but in China? (WA Q2) Not in US… …but in China Need financial incentives for recycling Labor is cheaper Fewer regulations High overhead Reuse for production U.S. ‘harvests’ lights Copper in wiring, electronics Plastics for local markets ¤

How does harvesting differ in the US and China? (WA Q3) Gov’t coordinated Not gov’t coordinated Where economic incentive Waste collected down line Cost effective to sustain Have after-market Make profit Reuse when possible Need after-market ¤ Must be easy

Recap Food waste is very costly Americans especially wasteful Oversized restaurant portions, don’t eat leftovers GS waste- poor infrastructure Farm waste – ‘flawed’ foods U.S. harvests for recycling; does some recycling GS better reusers ¤