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Food Waste In America Essay

1195 Words5 Pages

In the US, 40% of food produced, or approximately 365 million pounds of food, is wasted each day. Food waste, however, is a problem that extends beyond America, affecting billions of people as a global issue. The overwhelming amounts of food that are being discarded contribute to global warming and climate change, and prevent the massive number of hungry people from being able to eat nourishing meals. Humanity as a whole must be more mindful of the Earth and its health, as we are the source which most directly affect it. Due to the profound environmental impacts of food waste, a reduction in the amount disposed is necessary to create a more sustainable environment, and humans have a responsibility to protect the planet, even if it requires drastic changes to the current food system.
Dr. M. Sanjayan of the University of California states that food waste is not purposeful, and proposes that it is perhaps subliminal. Over time, there have been significant changes in the amounts of food people are purchasing. Sanjayan states that this is due to the increase in the size of the dinner plate and the refrigerator, which have grown by 36% and 15% respectively since the 1960s due to the …show more content…

It is just not being used conservatively. A food shortage is not the problem. The problem is what is done with the food that isn’t shipped out to supermarkets, purchased, or consumed. The US alone produces four times the amount of food needed to feed the entire population. As an alternative to disposing of the unwanted food, it could be used to feed the thousands of starving people throughout the nation. There are excess amounts of edible food thrown away, and even more piled in landfills. There is no shortage of food. It is exactly the opposite, and there will continue to be people starving and environmental damage unless something is done about the worldwide issue of food waste. Sustainability starts with

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