40% edible food is thrown away in the US

[paulbearer]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Throw-away_society

(1$ = 8 krones)

I read this in Norwegians in flight magazine...and that's just US !

I can't afford to throw away food here in Norway , it is simply too expensive (a bunch of bananas is 20 krones (2.50$) , they're usually half rotten so I refuse to buy em)

Some things I buy half off :

-milk (24 krones for 4 litres aka a gallon when it's 50% off)
-pizza dough
-bread (20 krones for about 30 slices)

Also bought some Haribo half off but that's only cuz they were expired as they're never discounted here.

[Long A, Short A]

Articles like this aren't written for the right reasons, so I do my best not to get strung out over the stats. Once you have a mom that tries to make you eat spoiled food and scoop bugs out of your tea, you don't have much tolerance for people that are dramatic over food waste.

[Push R Truth]

The problem with a lot of studies these is "What did you use for numbers?" Back in college they did a waste study at the Caf and they said 60% of all food was wasted. They got the numbers by weighing the food coming in and the refuse going out. If you looked into the numbers breakdown of refuse going out, well over half was bones/coffee grounds/used paper products/peels and husks/water from drained canned goods/used oil/greases.


Yeah, there was regular food wasted. But that number was heavily padded by stuff that only vaguely would be classified as food.

Overall it's nearly an impossible thing to "measure". Here's another goofy yet somewhat relevant example: Take a thanksgiving turkey. You start with a 12 pound bird. By the time it's cooked, you lose a couple pounds of water/juice/liquid fat. Even before the first bite is taken it might weigh 8 pounds. A lot of numbers would say 33% was already food waste before the first bite was taken, and we haven't even picked the bones out of the bird yet.


Yeah, a lot of good food gets tossed. And yes people are hungry. I'm just not sure there's a real way to ever get a real meaningful number on food waste.

At the end of the day a half eaten hamburger getting tossed in the garbage in Miami doesn't mean a starving kid in Brazil was denied a half of a hamburger. It's a complicated and difficult topic.

[Dub H]

Nov 30, 2016 7:32:38 GMT -5 Push R Truth said:

The problem with a lot of studies these is "What did you use for numbers?" Back in college they did a waste study at the Caf and they said 60% of all food was wasted. They got the numbers by weighing the food coming in and the refuse going out. If you looked into the numbers breakdown of refuse going out, well over half was bones/coffee grounds/used paper products/peels and husks/water from drained canned goods/used oil/greases.


Yeah, there was regular food wasted. But that number was heavily padded by stuff that only vaguely would be classified as food.

Overall it's nearly an impossible thing to "measure". Here's another goofy yet somewhat relevant example: Take a thanksgiving turkey. You start with a 12 pound bird. By the time it's cooked, you lose a couple pounds of water/juice/liquid fat. Even before the first bite is taken it might weigh 8 pounds. A lot of numbers would say 33% was already food waste before the first bite was taken, and we haven't even picked the bones out of the bird yet.


Yeah, a lot of good food gets tossed. And yes people are hungry. I'm just not sure there's a real way to ever get a real meaningful number on food waste.

At the end of the day a half eaten hamburger getting tossed in the garbage in Miami doesn't mean a starving kid in Brazil was denied a half of a hamburger. It's a complicated and difficult topic.

I mean , if you wanna buy me half a burguer ,i wouldn't complain

[Non Banjoble Tokens]

The thread title reads like the U.S. is throwing away food that is only 40% edible. If it drops below 50% it goes in the trash. We have standards dammit!

[paulbearer]

www.marketwatch.com/story/want-to-save-at-the-supermarket-compost-2013-06-18

Obviously , if the bread is mould infested you don't eat it but expired food is edible if it's stored correctly , milk can last up to 14 days inside the fridge as long as it's not stored in the fridge door where it will quickly sour. Some people are just lazy and let meat sit in the fridge for a long time instead of using the freezer , meat can last 9-12 months past expiration if it's properly frozen.

During WW2 it was unthinkable to throw away food due to rations , at least in Europe.

[Evil Homer]

Not in my house

[RadcapRadsley]

When I used to work at a bagel place anything that would go unsold went to the homeless but if it was too old even they wouldn't eat it.

[mizerable]

You know, it kind of annoys me when people always rag on something that the US is doing wrong, in this case..being wasteful.

We're still producing enough food to continue to be number one in exporting due to profound expertise in the farming sector, which also helping drive down production costs to those we export to.

Also shame on us for the countless famines we've spearheaded with the CRB, ARA, the Lend Lease Act, the UNRRA, the Marshall Plan, Peace Corps, FAA. Live Aid and US Aid...all over the world during the last 100 or so years, a lot of the time fitting the bill and not asking for anything in return.

We're still providing a lot more than we're wasting.

[paulbearer]

www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/m...ng/a/23612291/

Brief translation :

"Every year food for tens of billions of krones is thrown away in Norway. Much of this food is completely safe to eat, and there is something seriously wrong when tons of food is wasted.

Now we need to put in place a ban here in Norway"

"The proposal comes after a new law came into force in France last week where is it now illegal for supermarket chains to throw food while it is still edible.

"We want to do like in France and fine grocery stores that throw edible food. The most important thing for us is that food that is fully edible should not go to waste and a ban on throwing food should help supermarkets in a big way and politicians realize the seriousness"

"Many supermarket chains have even initiated good arrangements to reduce waste but it's still too much food being thrown , 130,000 tons edible food.

"We know, moreover, that 10% of greenhouse gas emissions from the wealthy part of the world is due to food waste"

"There are simply a lot of good arguments to expedite this work"

"361 000 tons edible food was thrown in Norway in 2013"

Hit the nail right on the head with that article.