Food Waste Saving

Living in a bustling and cosmopolitan city like Vancouver, food hunger seems distant from most of us. With the progression of agricultural and biological technology, the production of crops has more than kept pace with population increase; cereal production, accounting for more than 50% of the energy intake of the world’s poor today, had increased substantially from 275 kg per person in the early 1950s to 370 kg per person from 1950s to1980s (Daily et al., 1998). However, what is coupled with food production growth is food waste. Astonishing the fact is that one-third of the food is wasted each year through the food supply chain, and most of the waste in developed countries is from the household level. It is ecstatic to know, if a mere 15% of the food is protected from being wasted, it can pacify up to 25 million hungers (Sharma et al., 2018).

Thus, this semester, I decided to participate in food waste saving through the entire summer term. Most household food waste is from bad consumer behaviors (Calvo-Porral et al., 2016). Most customers do not know what and how much they need when shopping at the grocery store and eventually end up throwing away the unconsumed portion. This scenario happens in my home as well. To avoid this, I decide to make a thorough plan each time I go to the grocery store. The first step of the plan is to know the amount of food in the fridge and its conditions. Produces that are close to the best before dates will be consumed preferentially. Then, I will make a food plan for the week and list out the exact amount of groceries required. While shopping at the grocery store, I will use my reusable bag and choose food with as little packaging as possible to further reduce plastic use. Furthermore, I will learn the appropriate storage methods for each product type to extend their shelf life as long as possible. I will also check the easily perishable food regularly to ensure food security, and the food that is too much to be consumed will be donated to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank. However, if the food does end up perishing because of overbuying or inappropriate storage, it will be disposed of in the organic green bin for recycling.

Reference
Daily, G., Dasgupta, P., Bolin, B., Crosson, P., Ehrlich, P., Folke, C., Jansson, A. M., Jansson, O., Kautsky, N., Kinzig, A., Levin, S., Mäler, G., Pinstrup-Andersen, P., Siniscalco, D., & Walker, B. (1998). Food Production, Population Growth, and the Environment. Science. https://doi.org/science.281.5381.1291
Sharma, S., Shandilya, R., Sunday Tim, U., & Wong, J. (2018). EFeed-Hungers: Reducing food waste and hunger using ICT. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 131, 99-100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.12.025
Buzby, J. C., & Hyman, J. (2012). Total and per capita value of food loss in the United States. Food Policy, 37(5), 561-570. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2012.06.002
Calvo-Porral, C., Medín, A. F., & Losada-López, C. (2016). Can Marketing Help in Tackling Food Waste?: Proposals in Developed Countries. Journal of Food Products Marketing, 23(1), 42–60. https://doi.org/10.1080/10454446.2017.1244792