(philana suggs)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nfor example, we should not be producing more food than we can eat, and we should especially not be throwing it away when someone else can put it to good use. if we do have a surplus in food, we should give it to an organization that knows how to properly distribute it to those in need. restaurants should not require their employees to throw away the food that was not eaten during shift and should instead bring it to the nearest shelter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
strategies for reducing food waste<\/h2>\n\n\n\n i had the pleasure of interviewing desmond mortley, ph.d. and lucy asare-baah, ph.d. of tuskegee university. asare-baah is a professor at tuskegee university who teaches in the agribusiness program. moretly is also a professor at tuskegee who is involved in numerous activities, but his recent project is focusing on post-harvest food loss and waste. i sat with them both to grasp the concept of food waste and how one would go about decreasing this issue\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
asare-baah explained that developing countries seem to focus on home economics more than its developed counterparts. because of this, more people in developed countries are less eager to cook and may depend on restaurants to house their meals. this is an issue, because we allow these franchises to determine how little or how much food we receive and why when it comes down to an unfinished meal, we have no problem throwing it away. as stated before, restaurants do not know how to properly handle these unwanted dishes and will throw them out instead of giving them to someone who may need it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
mortely believes one of the issues that contributes to food waste lies on the labels found on food packaging. \u201cwe believe that as soon as a product hits an expiration date, we must immediately throw it away, even if the product does not appear expired,\u201d said mortely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
this reminded me of when i was a child and saw that the more-than-halfway-gone milk in the fridge was \u201cexpired\u201d and i poured it out in the sink. my mother asked me if i tried it, but i told her, \u201cno,\u201d because it was expired. she then explained that i must examine the product before immediately throwing it out, because it may not have even been bad. the more i talked to asare-baah and mortley, the more i realized that i unknowingly contribute to food waste, and that other people may not realize it as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
when asked about suggestions for decreasing this issue in america, mortley recommended more educational awareness. everyone should take the time to do their own food research and learn about things like food shelf life. asare-baah said that buffets should be looked at more. some buffets do try to help this issue by charging people who do not finish their plates but these rules often don\u2019t go far enough. \u201cpeople are too quick to throw away and waste a product because they believe that since they paid for it, it is not hurting anybody,\u201d said asare-baah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
both mortley and asare-baah also advised that we learn how to cook. we need to learn how to be more adaptable in the kitchen. for example, asare-baah brought up bananas. \u201cwhen they appear to be turning brown, instead of throwing them away, we should use them for another dish like banana pudding or banana bread that does not require ripe fruit\u201d, said asare-baah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
lastly, when i asked them both where they felt this issue was going and what the younger generation should know, mortley stated that he requires his students to go to tuskegee\u2019s communities and volunteer to distribute food that would go bad on campus, into the community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
similarly, asare-baah gives her students plenty of assignments on food waste, like polling people in the cafeteria on what this issue means to them. she believes that the solution is to involve the youth so that they can learn from the older generations. engaging young people is important as they are the ones who will face the brunt of climate change’s impacts in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
as laid out in the food and agriculture organization’s 2015 report on climate change and food security<\/a>, climate change is expected to increasingly impact agricultural productivity in the future and, “the people who are projected to suffer the earlier and the worst impacts from climate change are the most vulnerable populations.” <\/p>\n\n\n\nby hearing stories of my godmother\u2019s experiences on the farm and by learning from tuskegee professors desmond mortley and lucy asare-baah\u2019s experiences in helping the decrease of food waste, i can say that i have learned to become more aware of how i handle my food. instead of throwing away a dish that i did not like, i make sure to eat it all or if i am unsure about a dish, i will start off with a little helping instead of immediately filling up my plate. i think that if everyone becomes aware of how they personally contribute to food waste, then we can decrease this issue as well as ease the hunger of the homeless population. . <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
my godmother’s experience growing up on a farm in alabama offers a lot to learn from when it comes to eating sustainably, preventing food waste, and supporting those who have less. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11796,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4896,4900],"tags":[],"storyfest_categories":[],"class_list":["post-30737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food","category-green-living"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
essay | there\u2019s food at the house: food waste and its impact on homelessness - planet forward<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n