As Millions Go Hungry, Here’s How To Reduce Food Waste In MI

MICHIGAN – A year into the coronavirus pandemic, families in Michigan are still struggling to make ends meet. Millions can’t put food on the table for their families, while others frequently go to bed hungry.

The pandemic left a profound mark on families both here and throughout the world. Yet while millions of our neighbors go hungry, many of us are wasting and throwing away food at unprecedented rates, according to a recent United Nations report.

The report, released earlier this month, estimates that 17 percent of the food produced globally each year is wasted. That amounts to 931 million metric tons of food, the report says.

The United States is the world’s greatest offender, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. In this country, we throw away about 31 percent of our food annually. That amounts to 133 billion pounds and $161 billion worth of food each year.

Yet Feeding America, the nation's largest hunger-relief organization, estimates as nearly 1.6 million people are facing food insecurity in Michigan. Nationally, at least 42 million Americans could grapple with hunger this year, partly because of the pandemic.

Given the number of hungry people in our country, why — but, better yet, how — do we allow so much food to go to waste?

Here’s a look at some truths behind food waste and what Michigan residents can do to curb it:

What Causes Food Waste

The average person in the United States tosses about 219 pounds of food each year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Food waste happens for many reasons and at all stages of the food cycle. However, three types of food waste generally exist: food that’s spoiled, food we think is spoiled, and food we know is still consumable but no longer want.

Food waste also happens at the retail and production level for numerous reasons: weather, processing and storage problems, overproduction, overbuying, poor planning — the list goes on.

Still, a majority of food thrown away is perfectly safe to eat — about 90 percent of tossed food can still be consumed, according to The Economics Review at New York University.

Yet we throw it away anyway. What gives?

The first study to look at consumer attitudes about food waste came out in June 2015 from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future. A second study by Ohio State University showed that while a majority of Americans think food waste is a problem, most find it difficult to reduce their own waste while others are “simply too busy to change.”

Also, Americans spend less on groceries than people in most other countries, which means we can afford to throw away food.

The Worst State Offenders

While the United States ranks among the worst global offenders for food waste, which states contribute most to the country’s total?

Official government data by state doesn’t exist, but U.S. Shipping & Packaging determined which states likely have the most food waste by taking each one’s total yearly grocery expenditure and assuming the national average of 31 percent will be wasted. That number was then divided by the state’s population to show an average of how much every person in each state spent on food that will be wasted.

Doing this, the company concluded Vermont had the highest amount at more than $1,374 of wasted food per person. Behind Vermont were Maine and Hawaii, respectively.

Economic, Environmental Repercussions

Food production takes a significant amount of labor, material resources, time and energy; so when food is wasted, so is the money it takes to acquire these resources, according to The Economics Review at New York University.

In fact, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations recently estimates at least $1 trillion in resource costs is lost annually.

Food waste produces enormous environmental consequences, too.

An alarming amount of wasted food ends up in our landfills each year. Food waste comprises about 22 percent of all waste in municipal landfills, according to data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Food that ends up in landfills also produces a large amount of methane — a greenhouse gas more powerful than carbon dioxide. Methane and other greenhouse gases absorb infrared radiation and heat up the Earth’s atmosphere, contributing to climate change.

In addition, food waste is responsible for more than 25 percent of all freshwater consumption in the United States each year. This means when we throw out food, we also waste the water it took to produce it.

How We Can Reduce Food Waste

Reducing food waste has to be a cooperative effort involving federal, state, tribal and local governments, faith-based institutions, environmental organizations, communities, and the entire food supply chain, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

To tackle the problem of food waste in the United States, the FDA joined the USDA and EPA in 2015 to set a goal to cut U.S. food waste by 50 percent by the year 2030. The agreement aims to improve coordination and communication across federal agencies in order to better educate Americans on the importance of reducing food loss and waste.

Still, the best way to cut back on food loss and waste is to not create it in the first place. Individuals can look for ways they can improve and change the way they cook, store and shop for food.

In its food recovery hierarchy, the EPA identifies source reduction as the first step to reducing food waste, followed by feeding hungry people, feeding animals, industrial use and composting. Landfills are identified as the last measure people should take in eliminating food waste.

Where To Take Your Leftover Food

While some food banks and pantries such as Feeding America do not accept most perishable or leftover food items, there are still ways to make sure food from your home doesn’t go to waste.

The EPA created an Excess Food Opportunities Map, which supports keeping food out of the nation’s landfills. The map identifies places that may generate extra food as well as more than 5,000 places that will take extra food, including anaerobic digestion facilities, composting facilities and food banks.

Here are a few locations in Michigan:

Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan

• Facility type: Food Bank
• Address: 2131 Beaufait Street, Detroit
• 313-923-3535

Forgotten Harvest

• Facility type: Food Bank
• Address: 21800 Greenfield Rooad
• 248-967-1500

Macomb Food Program

• Facility type: Food Banks
• Address: 44800 Vc Wertz Drive

Feeding America serves 200 member food banks that serve and supply 60,000 food pantries, kitchens and meal programs around the country.

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