Food waste

**Timberridge** · 10-13-2016, 10:01 AM

I'm beginning to backtrack on admonishing Benny for stuffing his pockets with coldcuts from the Alpenrose buffet. They might have just thrown that out anyway.

These numbers are yuuuge...

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How big is the food-waste problem? The numbers are staggering. It’s estimated that worldwide, 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted annually at a cost approaching a trillion dollars. In the U.S., the value of food wasted is estimated at $161 billion annually. These numbers are so large that they defy comprehension.

The more horrifying way to view the problem is to realize that throughout the food chain, and in consumers’ kitchens, something on the order of nearly half of all food goes to waste. How can this be? Here is a quick look at some of the causes of the problem:

First and most important are consumers’ high aesthetic standards for food. Is an apple bruised? Is a tomato less than bright red? Is lettuce a bit wilted? Is a cut of meat not properly marbled? In all these cases, and countless more, product is headed to the landfill.
Then there’s the matter of product dating. What are the meanings of “sell by,” “enjoy by,” “best before,” ”use by,” “freeze by” and the like? Who knows? I’ve even seen expiration dates with a time stamp. Is a product good at 9:13 A.M., but not a minute longer? Beyond that, some products are marked with a date of when it was manufactured, which doesn’t help consumers much.
The net effect of non-standard markings is to sow confusion, which causes consumers to throw out perfectly good product. For instance, eggs are fine to eat weeks beyond their expiration date. Conversely, fluid milk tends to go bad right around its expiration date. But a lot of milk could be salvaged if consumers knew it could be frozen, extending its shelf life almost indefinitely. The same is true of many other dairy products.
Store clerks typically don’t know the meaning of dates and mainly use them to rotate and cull stock for disposal. Supermarkets, of course, throw out vast amounts of food because of expiration dates as well as for cosmetic reasons.
Finally, we come to the biggest culprit of all, the consumer. Beyond insisting on perfect product, consumers also tend to overbuy and improperly cook product, serve excessively large portions, fail to consume leftovers and improperly store product. All these factors result in the disposal of product that could have been used.

**BmillsSkier** · 10-13-2016, 10:10 AM

**Mazderati** · 10-13-2016, 10:24 AM

Walking by any restaurant table that hasn't been cleared shows how little people appreciate and/or understand food.

Being able to walk outside, pull some thing off a tree, and eat it is truly amazing. /faroutman

**digitaldeath** · 10-13-2016, 10:31 AM

one time i ate some guys leftover pizza he left at his table

**Buster Highmen** · 10-13-2016, 10:35 AM

Scrounging was a time honored activity for those of us in college skimping by. We'd have beggars banquets occasionally at the tray bussing station. People used to get all bent out of shape about it, but only those scrounging were exposed to health issues, so most objections were quelled.

KQ · 10-13-2016, 10:47 AM

An App For Ordering Cheap Leftover Food From Restaurants And Bakeries

It's a win-win: restaurants reduce their food waste and diners get deliciousness.

**Benny Profane** · 10-13-2016, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by BmillsSkier

God, I love that ad.

KQ · 10-13-2016, 11:13 AM

Originally Posted by Benny Profane

God, I love that ad.

Def. one of the good ones along with the SF "what are you wearing Jake from State Farm?!!"

**Benny Profane** · 10-13-2016, 11:14 AM

Yeah, that's a classic, too.

**BmillsSkier** · 10-13-2016, 11:37 AM

Originally Posted by Benny Profane

God, I love that ad.

It's really giving me some good mileage too lately.

**skifishbum** · 10-13-2016, 11:53 AM

i extend the 5 second rule to 10
and compost almost all our food waste
and use it to grow more food

PB · 10-13-2016, 01:38 PM

Originally Posted by skifishbum

i extend the 5 second rule to 10
and compost almost all our food waste
and use it to grow more food

This^^^^

Technically, none of it is truly wasted; it's all recycled, eventually. What's that you say? Increased recycling efficiency?
Sure - eat your own poop.

**2bjenny** · 10-13-2016, 04:35 PM

Originally Posted by Buster Highmen

Scrounging was a time honored activity for those of us in college skimping by. We'd have beggars banquets occasionally at the tray bussing station. People used to get all bent out of shape about it, but only those scrounging were exposed to health issues, so most objections were quelled.

I worked at a College of Fine Arts for a while and it amazed me how the students would just hover during any reception just waiting for me to give them to go ahead to start eating. Afterwards, any leftovers were free game. It was like sharks circling their prey. I had to keep an eye on the food if catering set up early to make sure the goodies didn't disappear before the reception even started. I never had to worry about food going to waste.

**iceman** · 10-13-2016, 05:21 PM

We were at a restaurant in NYC one time and my wife had a steak. She set her silverware down and the old woman at the next table asked her how the steak was. She replied it was very good, but she was full. So the lady speared it right off her plate.

**old goat** · 10-13-2016, 05:49 PM

When I was a very poor med student I used to eat leftovers off patient trays, but only if it was in a wrapper.
One place there's never any food wasted--OR lounges. 3 day old birthday cake, cold soggy french fries, a quarter piece of donut--gone.

**dtown** · 10-13-2016, 06:56 PM

My kids school composts and donates it's unused food, they send out a monthly update on everything the donate and compost that would have normally been thrown away...the numbers are mind bottling!! We compost at our house as well and use in the garden too, pretty efficient process.

**Sirshredalot** · 10-13-2016, 07:19 PM

Leftovers in my house go in a tupper ware for lunch tomorrow. If leftovers are beyond the funk point, they go to the chickens. Chickens give us eggs and meat. At our old place, we composted the chicken shit and shavings and used it in the garden. Our current place is not conducive to gardening, but if any slc maggots wants some great compost material, it is available!

**dunfree** · 10-13-2016, 07:24 PM

Originally Posted by PB

Sure - eat your own poop.

Does rice count?

Theres lots of food waste pre-consumer. Poor distribution, handling, and mega-marts using it as a bargaining chip.

**BmillsSkier** · 10-13-2016, 07:38 PM

Originally Posted by PB

Sure - eat your own poop.

**DJSapp** · 10-14-2016, 09:21 AM

Originally Posted by flowing alpy

Kids are notoriously food wasteful.

FIFY.

Seriously, that crap was your favorite food in the world yesterday, now you won't touch it.

**BCMtnHound** · 10-14-2016, 09:54 AM

Originally Posted by DJSapp

FIFY.

Seriously, that crap was your favorite food in the world yesterday, now you won't touch it.

This is my excuse why I've gained a couple extra pounds the past few years. Can't let that snack go to waste!

**Timberridge** · 10-14-2016, 10:11 AM

I also blame places like Costco. My BIL spends his entire life there. Buys 5 lbs of cashews and 2 months later 2.5 lbs are rancid. Last year he brought a apple pie for Thanksgiving--it was 24" in diameter. For some reason, after loading up on 3 plates of stuffing and mashed potatoes at dinner, my wife's family decides they better not eat dessert because it would be too many calories....dump.

**Buster Highmen** · 10-14-2016, 10:32 AM

Often, food at our house is like eating at the Reclamation Café, where the food is described by its virtue of it's sanitation, not how good it tastes.
Thriftiness can drive a strange logic where the fact that the soup has 'only been reheated for 3 days' is extolled, or the beans 'are just soggy, they don't taste bad'.

Or 'the lettuce is just wilty, it hasn't turned black yet'.

The cheese is lauded for it's lack of having made anyone sick. Yet.

Fruit reclamation projects occasionally appear to be federally funded with battered peaches salvaged by virulent and proactive rotectomies. Bananas droop into black tubes before they are officially set aside for banana bread. Mold is no reason for disposal or relegation to the compost pile, it just requires a minor surgery.

Then there's time when saved foodstuffs that have declined into refrigerator science projects are no longer identified by dates, but given names and curated like pets or fine art.

There is dissent among the ranks.

**jansonantico** · 01-25-2017, 12:59 AM

Food waste is a worldwide epidemic, and it's well past time the average person started fighting back. More than one-third of all food produced globally is wasted or spoiled. Some companies like Ecoark along with portfolio company Pioneer Products are committed to tackling this major issue by implementing integrated technology and innovative product formulations to reduce food waste.