There is no such thing as throwing something away, there is only throwing something somewhere else.
Since we were young we've been taught the three R's: “Recycle, Reduce, Reuse.” I even remember this mantra having a catchy little tune. When we evaluate our day to day life are we considering these important ideas? Or are making excuses for why we are not considering these suggestions when going through our day to day motions? Many have caught on to recycling, but what about reducing and reusing?
In an age where it is estimated that we throw out 40 per cent of our food, it is easy to assume that the majority of us are doing the latter. Instead of attempting to use the bendy carrot in the fridge we throw it in the compost, or even worse the garbage. Whether it is because we don't realize the potential for that onion that is soft on one side or we just don't want to bother with the aesthetically unappealing, almost compost-worthy broccoli, we are throwing out more food than at any other point in time throughout our history in a world where people are hungry not only across the world but also within our neighbourhoods.
There are other reasons throwing out food is bad.
For example, it costs you money that you lose when you don't eat what you've paid for. Whether you've bought dinner at a restaurant or bought groceries that are making the smell of your refrigerator offensive, you paid for it. Now you consider it useless. It may not be, but a lot of us haven't learned the fine art of using it in other ways. Not to worry in the next few weeks I'll try to give you ideas on possible solutions.
It also can affect your bank account in a less evident way. Taxes. The more you throw out the more garbage has to be picked up. That means more garbage trucks on the road. Believe it or not you pay for this. Though it may be a bit far fetched it is another reason for one to think about food waste.
The environment suffers as well when you throw out food. You might say to yourself “I buy my food from local suppliers so I'm not impacting the environment.” Think again. When we throw “away” our food we add to the increasing amount of greenhouse gases by sending it to a landfill to rot. As consumers who compost or throw away as much food as we do we are to blame for more environmental damage than the food miles that we recognize as the main contributor to environmental issues.
These are some of the points that I feel we all need to be aware of when it comes to food waste. I'm excited to write more about this and hope that you'll all consider these important points next time you look at that less than crisp bunch of asparagus or slightly mouldy cheese and think about throwing it “elsewhere”.
Through the use of experiments, available resources and personal experience the upcoming blog posts should help you expand your view on how foods can be used that might otherwise go to waste . Hopefully, by providing you with information that could help you decrease the amount of food waste coming from your home you'll become accustomed to delicious soup stocks, spending less on food and embracing a different perspective on what food can mean to us as a community.
