Posted on 12/08/2004 8:21:28 PM PST by Incorrigible
Americans Waste Vast Amounts of Edible FoodBY DRU SEFTON
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Marge Danser still feels pangs about "the great freezer debacle."
Two years ago she opened the freezer in her Brooklyn, N.Y., apartment and faced a pile of long-frozen packages of meat -- about $20 worth. "I thought, I've got to get rid of all this," Danser said. "But I felt so guilty."
Into the trash it went.
And so Danser contributed -- however reluctantly -- to the massive amount of food wasted in America.
New research shows the problem stretches all the way from production on farms (29 percent waste in the citrus industry) through retail (26 percent waste of convenience store food) to the average American household, which wastes about 14 percent of food purchases.
"The really shocking thing," said anthropologist Timothy Jones, who directed the study for the University of Arizona's Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, is that 15 percent of that household's waste is still "perfectly good, packaged, edible food, not out of date. It's just people doing cabinet cleaning."
Jones calculated that a family of four wastes nearly $600 of food annually.
In Danser's case, those freezer-chapped meats probably could have been used. Freezer burn, a discoloration due to moisture evaporation, "doesn't change edibility at all," Jones said. "A freezer-burned roast can be cut up for stew."
Danser and her fiance, Robert Segarra, enjoy cooking and eat at home most nights. Though they waste less food now through careful planning and shopping, Danser still faces frustrations.
"Like when I need a teaspoon full of an ingredient, but have to buy a large amount" due to packaging, she said. "Then I end up storing the rest, and finding it later and thinking, I'll never use this again, and pitching it."
Jones has studied the issue for 20 years, sometimes literally on his knees in commercial trash bins or up to his elbows in family garbage cans.
At one point in the latest study, sponsored in part by the U.S. Agriculture Department, some 35 team members were analyzing garbage, questioning families and food managers, contemplating all aspects of how items end up in the trash.
Jones said a main reason for waste is "a massive lack of education about food, where it comes from, how to handle it, and when it goes bad."
He has written to heads of several large corporations with simple ideas for cutting waste. So far, he said, no response.
"For very little money they could institute training programs, reanalyze storage needs and dramatically reduce food loss -- probably in half or more," Jones said.
Waste is especially problematic for convenience stores that sell prepared, warm-to-go foods. At the crux is quality assurance -- "throwing out the coffee every 20 minutes, because customers expect fresh coffee," said Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores. The group, based in Alexandria, Va., represents more than half the country's 130,000 shops and chains.
Lenard said one successful waste-reduction program was instituted by Kwik Trip, based in LaCrosse, Wis. With better planning, storage and special ripening rooms, the chain reduced banana waste from as much as 50 percent in 1991 to less than 3 percent today.
So much edible waste goes into Dumpsters outside stores and restaurants that Adam Weissman of Hackensack, N.J., hasn't had to purchase food for years. He and other "Freegans," who forage nationwide, exist solely on what others discard.
"Frankly, we find more than we could ever eat ourselves," said Weissman, 26. Just gathering discarded food in his neighborhood, "on any given day, I could probably walk away with enough produce to feed my entire apartment building" -- a 12-story structure. He recently found two 24-cubic-foot Dumpsters full of fresh produce, "some slightly bruised" but edible.
Freegans opt out of the consumer culture, Weissman explained, believing "the economy is totally at odds with sustainable or ethical values in society. Once things can't be sold, they're not seen as valuable."
Weissman has claimed baked goods, prepared foods, uneaten foods from buffets -- all thrown away several times daily. He checks for spoilage by examining the food, and said he has yet to become ill.
"People find that baffling," he said. "But how do you know when something is safe to eat in your fridge? You do the same thing, you look and smell and taste."
To Jones, the Freegans "simply illustrate the amount of food that is thrown away." What is "really obvious" from his research, he said, is that "Americans at all phases have just simply lost touch with their food."
"Every school should have a garden, let students grow food, harvest and eat it," Jones said. "It gets them back to what food is, and they gain appreciation for it."
Dec. 8, 2004
(Dru Sefton can be contacted at dru.sefton@newhouse.com.)
Not for commercial use. For educational and discussion purposes only.
the economy is totally at odds with sustainable or ethical values in society. Once things can't be sold, they're not seen as valuable.
Like, yeah man.
....and then there was the guy who rubbed everything on his butt before throwing it away.
"Jones calculated that a family of four wastes nearly $600 of food annually."
He should double check his math, $600 is 15% of $4000, about $76/week. Does he really think you can feed a family of four on that amount of money?
I love how this article glorifies these people that sift through the trash in New York City.
The freaking streets are a mess thanks to these idiots looking for 'Freegans.' Jeez Louise.
I have no doubt they published those numbers unqualified, as if it were sound data.
There is no way in the world anyone in America could ever starve if they gave one ounce of effort.
Forget foraging in dumpsters. They can eat like a king at Burger King for under $3/day, maybe $1000/year. Plenty of variety--protein, fruits, grain, vegetables...
Half-teasing but half not, seriously.
You're thinking of the monkey at the bar that kept putting peanuts up his rear. His owner was asked about this nasty habit and he replied, "One night he ate a cue ball and now he measures everything before he eats it."
A vegetarian made a documentary this year to savage fast food (McDonald's specifically). He (and many leftists) would be horrified at your suggestion that they eat at Burger King every day. He ate meat in the film but has since given it up (his girlfriend was vegetarian, don't know if he eats meat again, now).
You are correct. Hot food is cheap.
I am a divorced male who lives by himself -- (well my five year old daughter does spend two days a week with me) and my budget for food is more than $80.00.
After two hours meat/chicken/fish/turkey is not edible == too many ugly disease!
Can anyone say SALMONELLA ? So according to this genius we should eat food with SALMONELLA? I Would rather throw it out!
Danser and her fiance, Robert Segarra, enjoy cooking and eat at home most nights. Though they waste less food now through careful planning and shopping, Danser still faces frustrations. "Like when I need a teaspoon full of an ingredient, but have to buy a large amount" due to packaging, she said. "Then I end up storing the rest, and finding it later and thinking, I'll never use this again, and pitching it."
How hard is it to buy your food one week at a time? That's how I do it. When there's nothing left but canned tomatoes and some chips, it's time to go shopping. And so what if you have to buy a whole bottle of ground cumin to make something. Get some more recipes and cook up something new so you don't waste it! These people are complete morons; no wonder they vote Democrat.
All this stuff COULD be sold, and certainly WOULD be sold, except for government interventions in the form of health and safety regulations.
And these left-wing dumpster divers would be the first ones at the barricades demanding government protection against money grubbing capitalists if stores were allowed to sell this "perfectly edible food".
So, these folks should accept their good fortune that governmental force makes folks throw good food away that they can then scrounge. Meanwhile, the rest of us are paying for this waste, you can take that one to the bank!
OH..kay!
1) "I haven't got sick yet."---they probably go the Emergency Room if they do get sick. Guess whose taxes pay for that joke.
2) The children should have a garden in school? Hey, how about we start with something really simple first. Like teaching them to read and make change.
3) I too find it appalling that establishments throw out good food. Many do not donate food because they are afraid some "poor" person may sue their butt!
4) there are also many very brave stores, etc who DO donate extra food.Bless them.
It could be done with very careful planning and cooking everything from scratch. Healthy food is cheaper too.
Then of course there's the Bob Barker method. A stew made from the leftovers of the spay/neuter program. A little garlic, salt pepper and BAM!!!
Your point #3 is more true than you know. The reason fast food chains throw out leftovers at the end of each shift is mainly risk management. Thank you to lawyers like John Edwards for that one!
there's a million starving chinamen that would kill for just one mouthful of that mister!!!
That's why food handlers don't give it away and why dumpster diving is harder these days. Stores and restraunts literally have to lock up their garbage.
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