In the United States alone there are plenty of resources needed for food production, it is worth our duty to make sure that food goes to good use and we don’t lose any food before it makes it to our plates. Our nation’s agricultural production accounts for 80 percent of consumed water use and more than half of all land use. (what is it) It releases hundreds of millions of pounds of pesticides into the environment each year and is the leading cause of water quality impairment in the nation’s rivers and streams. It is also the largest distributer of nitrous oxide and methane, two powerful greenhouse gases. Losses in our food system occur throughout the supply chain. Food gets lost on farms during processing, distribution, and storage, in retail stores and food service operations and in households for a variety of reasons at each stage. However, the significant disorganization of the food system has received no attention up until today, resulting in a major shortage of data that might illuminate key influencers of the problem or possible solutions. The most widespread report on food loss in the United States was issued by the U.S. …show more content…
All of us who dine out have internally debated the pros and cons of doggy-bagging leftovers, and the majority of Americans share the guilty experience of ordering the waiter to take the extra food away, knowing it was destined for the dumpster. As Americans, we frequently seek out establishments that offer more for our money, as well as enjoying the abundance of buffets and cafeteria-style eating, all of which innately generate large amounts of food waste. The United States also cultivates a thriving fast food industry, and the consequences of producing cheap, ready-to-go food are careless food waste policies. According to a 2005 study at the University of Arizona, food waste as a percentage of the total food used is 9.55% in
...ghner, 1993). It is the authors belief that consumers are aware of their consumption, as well as realize how wasteful they are with food in general For the students who do not fit into Eighner's wasteful category, he presents a grouping of frugal consumers who, "carefully wrap up even the smallest leftover[s] and shove it into the back of the refrigerator for six months or so before discarding it" (Eighner, 1993).
The first step in achieving food security is to maximise the use of food already being produced and to minimise its waste. The FAO (2013) estimates that 1.3 billion tonnes
As Americans, we waste more food than many countries even consume. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, “The average American trashes 10 times as much food as a consumer in South east Asia” (Hsu). That is about equivalent to eating 10 meals to a consumer in South East Asia’s one meal. We throw away our left over food just because we are done ea...
Most people do not spend their days wondering where their next meal is going to come from, but as the economic situation gets worse and jobs get harder to find it is becoming an every occurring issue in the United States today. Not only will some of us have to worry about with what money will we buy our food, but now we will all start having to worry about where our food is coming from and is it safe for us to consume. We are moving toward a safer tomorrow every day by regulating certain parts of our food supply system. No matter how long it takes, it is clear that there is always opportunity for improvement in making our Nation healthier and safer.
Imagine having a big juicy hamburger or some fried chicken in front of you, of course you cannot wait to eat it. Now a days we want to eat the cheapest, fastest thing we can find without realizing where it came from or how the animal was treated before being killed. The production of food has changed drastically over the course of the years. There is more food being produced, but at the cost of becoming unhealthy. In the documentary Food Inc. released in 2008, it goes through and provides the real facts of what goes on in the food we eat. The documentary provides an American family’s view, a farmer’s view, and an expert’s view towards the modern day food production system. The movie makes you aware of the how dangerous food has become over
Walsh, Bryan. “America’s Food Crisis.” NEXUS. Eds. Kim and Michael Flachmann. Boston: Pearson, 2012. 166 – 173. Print.
http://www.fccfoundation.org/Library/FCCF%20Documents/Reports%20and%20Publications/Hunger%20Lives%20Here.pdf Greene, Catherine, Carolyn Dimitri, Biing-Hwan Lin, William McBride, Lyndia Oberholzer, and Travis Smith. " USDA ERS - Emerging Issues in the U.S. Organic Industry." USDA ERS - Emerging Issues in the U.S. Organic Industry. N.p., 1 June 2009. Web.
Food insecurity is defined by those who either do not have enough or are at real risk of not having enough food for their family. In May of 2009, there were approximately 38 million Americans defined as food insecure. That number grew to nearly 49 million 6 months later, and today there are over 50 million food insecure Americans (1 out of every 6). I find this astounding, because about 30 percent of all produce is thrown away before it even reaches the grocery store. Why? Because of cosmetic imperfections that are stipulated by large grocers that decide how produce should look. That is roughly 100 billion pounds of food a year or 1 pound per American per day that is being wasted because they aren’t pretty. America has begun to cater to only the perfectionist shoppers and has forgotten about those who do not have the money to purchase highly-priced produce. One of the ways we can start to solve this problem is through minimizing food waste at the beginning of the chain. Farmers typically throw away roughly 30 percent of all produce because they do not meet the guidelines for color, shape or number of blemishes. Instead, we should be following the
Our current system of corporate-dominated, industrial-style farming might not resemble the old-fashioned farms of yore, but the modern method of raising food has been a surprisingly long time in the making. That's one of the astonishing revelations found in Christopher D. Cook's "Diet for a Dead Planet: Big Business and the Coming Food Crisis" (2004, 2006, The New Press), which explores in great detail the often unappealing, yet largely unseen, underbelly of today's food production and processing machine. While some of the material will be familiar to those who've read Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" or Eric Schlosser's "Fast-Food Nation," Cook's work provides many new insights for anyone who's concerned about how and what we eat,
In order to bring about change in this misuse of food, Americans need to be conscious of the problem and their practices, the environmental effects, and ways they can reduce waste. In the first place, Americans need to be conscious of the problem and their practices. In her article, Eliana Dockterman states that the National Resources Defense Council has estimated that 40% of the food
My starting point for this paper was the movie Food Inc. directed by Robert Kenner. Although the film’s main purpose was to expose how detrimental today’s food industry is to our health, at the same time I found myself wondering how the food industry and our diets affect the environment. The film mentions how the meat industry takes heavy tolls on the environment because of the land that must be devoted in order to raise livestock—both to grow the food for the animals to eat and to provide a place for the animals to reside. The film also mentions how there are only 4 or 5 major crops that are grown in America—including corn, wheat, and soybean, which are used a lot for animal feed—which decreases America’s biodiversity (Food). All of these things led me to pursue the question: how does our consumption of animal products affect the environment?
America is a capitalist society. It should come to a surprise when we live like this daily. We work for profit. We’ll buy either for pleasure or to sell later for profit. It should come to no surprise that our food is made the same way because we are what we eat. We are capitalist that eat a capitalist meal. So we must question our politics. Is our government system to blame for accepting and encouraging monopolies?
There are many problems confronting our global food system. One of them is that the food is not distributed fairly or evenly in the world. According “The Last Bite Is The World’s Food System Collapsing?” by Bee Wilson, “we are producing more food—more grain, more meat, more fruits and vegetables—than ever before, more cheaply than ever before” (Wilson, 2008). Here we are, producing more and more affordable food. However, the World Bank recently announced that thirty-three countries are still famine and hungers as the food price are climbing. Wilson stated, “despite the current food crisis, last year’s worldwide grain harvest was colossal, five per cent above the previous year’s” (Wilson, 2008). This statement support that the food is not distributed evenly. The food production actually increased but people are still in hunger and malnutrition. If the food were evenly distributed, this famine problem would’ve been not a problem. Wilson added, “the food economy has created a system in w...
Some of the serious environmental tribulations related to food production and consumption consist of “climate change, water pollution, water scarcity, soil degradation, eutrophication of water bodies, and loss of habitats and biodiversity (Reisch L., 2014).” ... ... middle of paper ... ... Works Cited APHA. 2014, February 28.
The global population in the year 2050 is expected to be nine billion and the agricultural demand is expected to double. With the current population already over seven billion people, there are hunger issues all around the world (“New” par. 1). How are we going to deal with food shortages in the future? With less land to work with, strains on the soils, and the lack of water, it is getting harder for the farmers of the world to support our growing population. These complications are making it harder for farmers to produce quality, affordable food. To help the crops grow better, farmers use fertilizers and chemical sprays to enhance growth and control the weeds. Farming in the United States is a relevant business because it supplies people with food, provides people with jobs maintaining the used equipment with the new equipment being much more expensive, and it provides research for more efficient ways on how to feed the world.