dr. ronald e. mcnair acknowledgements - University of St. Thomas

UST McNair Scholars Program Research Journal
an average American man (Center for Disease Control and
Prevention, as cited in Bloom).
Bloom highlights three compelling reasons why
Americans should care about food waste:
Environmental Impact The majority of food being thrown
away is not recycled or recovered, meaning the majority of
food waste ends up in landfills (Environmental Protection
Agency [EPA], 2011). When food decomposes in landfills
it creates methane, a harmful greenhouse gas. Methane
traps heat more effectively than carbon dioxide, meaning
methane emissions may contribute to global warming even
decades from now (Bloom, 2010). Multiple EPA reports
detail alarming facts about the consequences related to
these landfills. In 2007, the EPA reported food scraps to
account for 19 percent of the waste Americans dumped
into landfills, making it the second most disposed item in
landfills behind paper waste (as cited by Bloom). The most
current information identifies landfills as a leading source
of human related methane emissions in the United States
(EPA, 2011). There are also concerns regarding the
potential for landfill toxins to leach into surrounding
bodies of water, which would pollute the drinking supply
of nearby inhabitants (Bloom). Reducing food wasted in
America is one way to combat global warming and
environmental degradation.
Economic Significance Wasting food translates to wasting
money. With a family of four discarding an estimated 15-
25 percent of the food purchased each year, financial losses
are estimated to be between $1,350 and $2,200 (Bloom,
2010). American consumers are also paying an increased
price for food wasted throughout the food chain, as it is
built into the price of our groceries. Farmers produce the
amount of crops necessary to supply the amount of food
demanded by consumers. The more food wasted by
consumers, the higher the demand for more food to be
supplied. Our current agricultural system is mostly
dependent upon expensive technology, such as pesticides,
which is predicted to drive up the price of all produce
(USDA, 2010). Cutting down on the amount of food our
country grows each year would lead to reducing the
amount of money needed to produce it. One calculation
estimated a rough total annual cost in the United States to
be $160 billion in squandered food costs (Bloom, 2010).
This cost for Americans should encourage waste avoidance.
The amount of money being lost due to squandered food
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is shocking, but it is also preventable if consumers change
their wasteful habits.
Societal Dilemma In a country where virtually half of the
food being produced is wasted, there are still 35 million
Americans living in households without sufficient food
access (Stuart, 2009). In 2008, 15 percent of Americans
did not have enough to eat at some point in the year and
22 percent of children in America lived in homes lacking
food security (Bloom, 2010). Both food waste and food
insecurity exist within the United States, one of the
wealthiest countries in the world. Part of the problem is
the unequal distribution of resources. Recovering a portion
of the food wasted in this country could potentially feed
millions of Americans (EPA, 2011).
These three reasons alone should provide strong
motivation for Americans to change their food wasting
ways. Strong efforts to mitigate food waste in the United
States must occur now. Consumers have the ability to
reduce food wasted in their households even though food
wasted during agricultural production, transport, and
processing is outside of their control. Currently, though
most American households throw away a substantial
amount of food that could have been eaten, most do not
recognize it as a major problem or feel the need to address
it. How can the issue of food waste be brought to American
households’ attention and create a national effort toward
reducing food waste? How can the problem be
communicated in a way that will provoke Americans to
take action?
Successful efforts to reduce food waste have been made
in other countries. For example, the Japanese government
passed the Food Waste Recycling Law in 2001 which
demanded food businesses to recycle 48 percent of their
food waste by 2006, which resulted in 59 percent
commercial and industrial food waste recycling (Stuart,
2009). This law has since been revised with a goal for
businesses to reach a recycling rate of 66 percent by 2012
(Stuart). Japan provides an example of how the government
is able to take an effective role in reducing national food
waste.
The UK has become another example of a country
dedicated to reducing its national food waste. Campaigns
such as Love Food, Hate Waste (LFHW) have
demonstrated success in aiding individuals to reduce their
food waste (www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/). The LFHW