Have you every
rejected a bruised banana or an oddly shaped strawberry? Or thrown out
leftovers that have sat in your fridge for too long? In the world, more than
half of fruits and vegetables grown gets lost or is wasted. This is especially
troubling because nearly 800 million people in the world do not have enough
food to lead a healthy active life. Fortunately there are some efforts underway
to reduce food waste and make it available to those in need.
As a developed nation, we are especially
wasteful. This is not only an ethical issue, but it is also an environmental
issue. Wasted food means wasted water, fertilizer, fossil fuels, and land.
Produce is often transported across the country. We like to get California’s
avocados and Florida’s oranges up here, but it isn’t so easy. The fruits and
veggies get passed on from one shipping truck to another until they reach their
destination. From one handoff to the next, more and more avocados and oranges
are thrown out. We are already struggling to reduce our carbon footprint;
reducing waste can help to do so. Genetically modified organisms, or “GMOs” are
also helping to reduce waste. Biologists incorporate genes into their produce
that will extend their lifetimes and make them less susceptible to damage. This
allows them to survive longer over their journey from the farm to the table.
Our grocery stores have certain cosmetic
standards that need to be met in order for produce to be sold. They worry that
the oddly shaped fruit will not be bought, and may actually scare away
customers. Often times, entire shelves of perfectly edible shell peas are
thrown out to make room for incoming ones, or bundles of zucchini are rejected
because they curve too much. The heirloom tomato, a non-hybrid form of a tomato
is a fruit that we have transformed artificially solely because of its
appearance. Their ridged surfaces, being unappealing to people, were
artificially selected against to make smooth, glossy surfaced tomatoes that we
see today in supermarkets. Heirloom tomatoes are actually said to have a
richer, juicier taste, but because of our obsession with aesthetics, we have
diminished these scrumptious tomatoes of those qualities.
Fortunately, “misshapen” fruits and
vegetables are actually becoming a trend. There are organizations that are
selling these fruits for less money, so that low-income families can afford
them and they don’t go to waste. DC Central Kitchen in Washington DC is one of
them. Each week they recover 15,000 pounds of food that they turn into healthy
meals.
Fun fact: Many producers actually spend extra to make their fruits and vegetables glossy and appealing by adding an external wax, which does not improve the taste or freshness of the food.
Though food waste has become a
global problem, there are things that we can do locally to address this issue
and provide a solution. First, we can
become more aware of how much we actually consume during a given week so that
we don’t buy more produce than necessary.
Not only will we be creating less waste in our homes, we will be sending
a signal to the produce companies of a more realistic idea of how much needs to
be stocked in grocery stores. Second, buying produce locally is a benefit for
the environment. It reduces fossil fuels that would be emitted while moving the
produce from one far away region to another. Buying produce locally reduces
waste because there is less opportunity for the foods to spoil or get damaged
during the journey. Here in Montclair we have the farmer’s market that supplies
locally farmed foods to our neighborhood from short distances around New
Jersey. If you haven’t checked it out
already, I truly recommend J
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