We throw away a third of the food we grow – here’s what to do about waste |
The article published by ‘‘The Conversation’, titled ‘‘we throw away a third of the food we grow - here’s what to do about waste’’ and written by Kamran Mahroof, and Sankar Sivarajah, addresses the context of food waste at a global scale, its causes, and its effects as a greenhouse gases emitter and display some possible solutions in the process of production and consumption. As the authors explain, the causes for food waste differ between low-income countries and high-income countries. Low income countries produce food waste because of poor infrastructure, knowledge gaps about food storage, and climate affecting crops. All these reasons could be resolved if the international support was as strong as they say to be. It's something that with scarce infrastructure and knowledge local people can’t go around by themselves. On the other hand, high-income countries decide whether it is food waste if the the product is aesthetic enough for selling and based on the arbitrary sell-by dates. We can see that the culture of food waste in low income countries is due to limitations and restrictions, while in high income countries, it seems more a choice, a luxury and a privilege to be able to choose by how the product looks if it is purchasable. As The Atlantic commented, ‘‘[i]n fact, leftovers have always been uncomfortably close to garbage, and that proximity became glaringly obvious when leftovers lost both their economic and moral urgency’’. This argument makes us rethink the role of propaganda and marketing in our food culture. Propaganda, during World War I, reminded Americans of the moral urgency of not wasting food, convincing them that leftovers were still edible food. If they were able to do that, why in this golden age of food haven’t they addressed this issue? Perhaps, because in a functioning competitive market where the main drive is profit, environmental and social externalities are less taken into account.
The fact that we have a whole category for food waste only shows the urgency of addressing this global problem. As Helen Rosner commented in her article ‘‘Anthony Bourdain and the power of telling the truth’’, public figures have the responsibility and power of affecting people’s minds and ideas, making them react how they pleased. Thus, public discourses from these figures that throwing food is not morally and environmentally correct and that food waste shouldn’t be normalized, could lead to a greater social change. The first step for any change is accepting that the problem exists. One solution that Mahroof and Sivarajah proposed was utilizing artificial intelligence powered drones to reduce overuse of pesticides, rising crop yield, decreasing operational costs and taking care of the environment. Another solution brought up was in fact changing the shopper’s mindset through the propaganda ‘‘Reduce food waste, save money’’. The last but not least important, is implementing a circular food system, where food is converted into renewable energy. All these solutions seem viable, however more parties need to be actively seeking solutions and stop being bystanders as Helen Rosner argues.
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