{"id":34151,"date":"2015-10-07T18:35:27","date_gmt":"2015-10-07T22:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wanderlust.com\/?p=34151"},"modified":"2015-10-07T18:43:37","modified_gmt":"2015-10-07T22:43:37","slug":"the-transformative-power-of-the-scrap-food-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/ja\/journal\/the-transformative-power-of-the-scrap-food-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"The Transformative Power of the Scrap Food Movement"},"content":{"rendered":"

In yoga and in life, we strive for balance. We breathe, we live, we eat, and we hope to leave the earth a little bit better than we found it. But are we really doing the best we can? In relation to food and the way we consume it\u2014well, not really.<\/p>\n

You would think that in a place of such abundance, with farmer\u2019s markets and organic produce<\/a> sprouting up on every corner, America would be a country immune to hunger. But we\u2019re not. Feeding America, one of our nation\u2019s largest nonprofit network of food banks, calculates<\/a> that 48.1 million Americans live in food-insecure households. While there are many contributing factors to the issue, food waste is one of the biggest. In fact, Americans waste approximately 30\u201340 percent of our annual food supply, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)<\/a>.\u00a0Over the course of a year, that accounts for a loss of almost 133 billion pounds of viable food. In dollars, that\u2019s over $161 billion of lost revenue.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s difficult to imagine numbers of such magnitude, it\u2019s even more difficult to understand the reasoning behind why so much food is lost. To break it down, a typical American family of four will waste approximately $1,356 to $2,275 in groceries per year<\/a>. Although you might think to yourself, I can\u2019t possibly be throwing away that much food,<\/em> waste happens in ways you might not believe.<\/p>\n

Waste Versus Loss<\/h3>\n

To get a better handle on the big picture, it\u2019s important to learn the difference between food waste and food loss. Food can be wasted or lost throughout the entire supply chain process, but the two specifics of \u201closs\u201d and \u201cwaste\u201d are very different. Food loss is inevitable. Food waste is not.<\/p>\n

Loss occurs when food is damaged or becomes inedible before it even reaches the store. A peach may get bruised during packing or a carton of eggs crushed. Those items are tossed because they are unfit for consumption. This is the cost of doing business on a national level. Some products just won\u2019t make it to consumers.<\/p>\n

Waste, on the other hand, is preventable. It occurs when food that is otherwise fit for consumption is allowed to spoil due to overly strict food laws, misunderstood sell-by dates, or misguided buying or preparation practices. Perfectly good day-old pastries that are thrown out to make way for new ones are considered food waste. Pastries that were accidentally burned and are now unfit for consumption are considered loss.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s less about that bag of baby carrots languishing in the depths of your fridge, and more about the two tons of edible spinach a packing plant is required to dispose of due to improper labeling. Yet America isn\u2019t the only offender.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Another aspect of food waste stems from the public\u2019s inherent distaste for seemingly blemished products. In March of 2014, French retailer Intermarch, the country\u2019s third-largest grocer, launched a viral marketing campaign<\/a>\u00a0celebrating the beauty of ugly veggies. Purchasing produce that would have otherwise been discarded and selling it at a discounted rate, Intermarch found that customers not only bought the aptly named \u201cgrotesque apples\u201d and \u201cfailed lemons\u201d destined for the dump, but actually increased overall store traffic by 24 percent. The marketing effort was so successful that it inspired the chain\u2019s three largest competitors to do the same.<\/p>\n

Waste and loss don\u2019t seem like such a big deal until you consider how much food this constitutes on a national scale. It\u2019s less about that bag of baby carrots languishing in the depths of your fridge, and more about the two tons of edible spinach a packing plant is required to dispose of due to improper labeling. Yet America isn\u2019t the only offender. Worldwide food waste numbers are outrageous. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations<\/a>\u00a0(FAO) which tracks food consumption across the globe, estimates that at least one-third of food produced for human use is lost or wasted on its journey from farm to table\u2014a total of 2.8 trillion pounds.<\/p>\n

How many people could that feed? At least three billion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A Change in Attitude<\/h3>\n

While these numbers are disheartening to say the least, newfound publicity and rising awareness has catapulted the problem of food waste into the public eye. With organic and farm-to-table options becoming the new standard, waste cooking isn\u2019t far behind. Chefs such as Dan Barber, a New York restaurateur and one of the first to take part in the scrap meal movement, have hosted pop-up dinners that showcase edibles not commonly thought of as food in a new light. At Barber\u2019s wastED dinner series<\/a>, which took place in New York City last spring, ugly veggies, fish bones, and stale bread took on a new life as he transformed them into something beautiful\u2014and delicious.<\/p>\n

These kinds of events encourage eaters to question what they\u2019ve been conditioned to consider waste. Sparking interest via social media, Barber\u2019s wastED dinner has gone on to inspire other companies to do the same. Burger institution Shake Shack released a limited run of veggie pulp burgers<\/a>. Salad guru Sweetgreen pulled together an all-scrap salad<\/a> of cabbage cores, kale stems, and broccoli stalks. And finally, Saucy by Nature<\/a>, a Brooklyn-based restaurant with an all-scrap menu founded by chef Przemek Adolf, who was sick of seeing his catering company\u2019s surplus funneled straight into the wastebasket.<\/p>\n

Even with waste numbers at an all-time high, there is hope for the future. In September 2015 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the United States\u2019 first official national food loss and waste goal<\/a>: a bill that calls for a 50 percent reduction of waste by 2030. Both the USDA and the EPA will work together to unite charitable organizations in both the public and private sector, local food banks, and state and county governments to lower food waste and improve national food security.<\/p>\n

With this push and the support of the public, we can work together to reduce our waste. Want to get involved? Here are some helpful tips from the EPA to reduce food waste at home.<\/p>\n