The following post is converted into AUD.
Food waste is something where sadly most of contribute. The USA alone, throw out 35 million tonnes and $210 billion of food is thrown out each year, that it only 365 days! Us Australians are not any better, we throw out 4 million tonnes and $8 million of edible food each year. We could fill 450,000 garbage trucks with our waste. Food waste is a growing problems and with these large numbers going away to rot, there are 795 million people who are currently undernourished and hungry. Australians on average throw out $19.90 each week so around $1, 036 each year per household.
It is not just the money we are throwing out but it also has environmental effects. When you thrown out your food you waste the already scarce water, fuel and other resources it took to get that food to your bin. When the food you throw away rots with the other organics in landfill, it gives off a greenhouse gas called methane. This gas is 25 times more potent than the carbon pollution that comes out of your car exhaust. Animals aren’t hunting anymore, instead they eat out of landfill and animal numbers are rising. With the 375 million word wide vegetarians, nobody is eating them so the ecosystem is unbalanced.
As consumers it is partly our fault that food waste exists. We expect perfection. Grocery stores throw away 20-40% of produce due to “imperfections” before it even reaches the shelves. Our high cosmetic standards aren’t only for ourselves but also for the food we eat! The banana may have some brown but they make the best banana bread. If we expect perfect produce we can also expect food waste. We can’t be picky about the food we eat. Food waste did not happen on it’s own, it happened because of us.