Wasting Food can be very detrimental to our environment. The later you waste, the more it affects the environment because if you spend all the energy buying the food, processing, and cooking it thats more carbon expended just to waste the product. One way we can tackle food waste is by feeding the unwanted food to animals and if it cant be
reused in any way then we can recycle it in a responsible manner instead of just letting it rot in the landfill.

Reference link:
https://www.moveforhunger.org/the-envir … food-waste

I totally agree with you on this. Adding on to your comments about how food waste impacts the environment, there are millions of people in our country and around the world who don't know where their next meal is going to come from. With that said I agree with you in that it's okay to not finish our food, but we should always look for an opportunity to make a difference in our community with the extra food. Sometimes I don't finish my lunch or dinner, but I try to find a use for the food. For example, using it for compost in soil or feeding it to my dog. According to USDA research, in 2010 alone there were 133 billion pounds of food wasted. That was equivalent to $161 billion dollars. I think that it is especially important to think where that wasted money could go to help the environment and community. I attached a video that I think does a good job of explaining the cycle of how our food actually gets wasted and what we can do to prevent this waste.

I agree 100% on this topic.  According to the New York Times, globally, we throw out about 1.3 billion tons of food a year, or a third of all the food that we grow. That’s important for at least two reasons. The less the world wastes, the easier it will be to meet the food needs of the global population in coming years. Second, cutting back on waste could go a long way to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Food waste is a big measure of inequality. In poor countries, most of the food waste is on the farm or on its way to market. In South Asia, for instance, half of all the cauliflower that’s grown is lost because there’s not enough refrigeration, according to Rosa Rolle, an expert on food waste and loss at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Tomatoes get squished if they are packed into big sacks. In Southeast Asia, lettuce spoils on the way from farms to city supermarkets. Very little food in poor countries is thrown out by consumers. There's not enough of it to go around so its precious. But in wealthy countries, especially in the United States and Canada, around 40 percent of wasted food is thrown out by consumers.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/12/clim … sions.html

This is completely true. Food waste is a huge problem in the world, especially the US. Food uses a lot of resources to produce and if you buy food and don't eat it all. Then if you through it away you are wasting all the resources it took to make the food and preventing others who need food from getting it. To prevent wasting food you should first try to eat it all, if not then save it and eat it later. Another way is to give your leftovers or extra food to food banks and people on the street who need food to survive. As Americans we waste 150,000 tons of food daily, which is about one pound per person. This is a crazy stat which can easily be brought down and fixed. The food wasted daily would make many people cry who don't get enough food and are starving. As the US we waste 40% of the food produced which is horrendous. That is not only a waste of food and resources, but money too. Greenhouse gases are produced to make food and when people waste food they are making the greenhouse gases emitted pointless. Overall as a nation we need to fix the problem of wasting food. Look for more details about food waste here https://www.theguardian.com/environment … bles-study and here

@SBullardBOD1 I completely agree. Your points about how much carbon it takes to make the food is something I never would have though of. Many people have no idea but the US is actually in the middle of a food waste reduction challenge. It was started in 2015 and the goal is to reduce the amount of food waste created in the US 50% by 2030. However, our goal is not even close to being reached. In 2015 we were estimated to waste 30-40% of our food supply, and in 2019 we are estimated to waste the exact same amount, 30-40%. About 72 billion pounds of food are thrown away each year. So in response to SBullardBOD1, I completely agree with you and believe that we should waste less food and cook/make as much as we will eat.

Sources: https://www.usda.gov/oce/foodwaste/faqs.htm

https://www.fda.gov/food/consumers/food-loss-and-waste

https://www.feedingamerica.org/our-work … food-waste

Food wasting can be very harmful to our environment. Food intake is imbalanced globally. Some people are dying of starvation and some dying of obesity. There is so much harmful food waste in our society. Switching to these eco-friendly diets is harch and unnatural. Meat is one of the worst foods, if not the worst, for the environment. A 1/3-pound burger uses 660 gallons of water to be produced. It can be challenging to go without meat, especially since that is what our bodies are naturally made to consume. They are trying to make artificial meat; however, that is not broadly sold on the markets yet. You should do your best and cot out things like dairy that are not good four you or the environment. Try not to waste food, but do not force-feed yourself. If you ever find yourself throwing food out and someone says, "people are starving in Africa," they are right, but also, people are dying of obesity. You shoving that food down your thought is not going to help the people in Africa. However, if you do ever through food out, make sure you compost it.

I agree! Wasting food can definitely be detrimental to our environment. The amount of energy that is used for buying food, processing food, and even cooking food is so extreme, but sadly most people end up just completely wasting food. I agree with the idea of either feeding "leftovers" to any animals, but we can also just practice collecting less food. For example, if people are only a bit hungry, then they should not fill their plates with food, just to later throw it away. Recycling is also extremely helpful in fighting against food waste. The first step to reducing food waste and starting to recycle is learning about how food is even recycled. Here is a link to "How is food waste recycled?": https://www.recyclenow.com/recycling-kn … food-waste

I agree with you that wasting food is a big problem. So much energy is used making and processing food just for Americans to waste $160 billion on food each year. Some other ways that you could tackle food waste would be to save all of your leftovers, this includes getting a to go box at a restaurant if you did not finish your meal. Another way to combat food waste would be buying less food. A lot of people buy more food than they need and end up wasting it. If we start buying only the amount we need we would stop wasting as much food.

I agree that saving one's leftovers is a good way to stop food waste. Another effective way to reduce food waste is to store one's food correctly so that it takes more time for it to spoil. The article "20 Ways to Reduce Your Food Waste" states, "According to the Natural Resource Defense Council, about two-thirds of household waste in the United Kingdom is due to food spoilage... Many people are unsure how to store fruits and vegetables, which can lead to premature ripening and, eventually, rotten produce" (Kubala). One piece of advice the article gives for avoiding premature spoilage is storing fruits and vegetables that produce ethylene as they ripen, such as avocados and peaches, away from produce that are ethylene-sensitive, such as apples and potatoes. To conclude, storing food properly can help prevent food waste.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/re … e#section2