People Need to Rearrange Their Priorities When It Comes to Food Waste

All those half-eaten jars of marinara sauce being thrown in the garbage have a dire impact on more than your wallet.

(Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Jun 24, 2015· 1 MIN READ

Josh Scherer has written for Epicurious, Thrillist, and Los Angeles magazine. He is constantly covered in corn chip crumbs.

A survey released Wednesday from the American Chemistry Council revealed what many people already know: Americans waste too much food, and they’re mad about it. Seventy percent of respondents said they are bothered by the amount of food wasted in their household, which, per statistics from the ACC, adds up to $640 annually. Keep in mind that the amount is self-reported—according to U.S. government estimates, we trash about $900 worth of groceries per year.

Even though most who participated in the study agreed that food waste is an all-around bad thing, they disagreed on the reasons why: 79 percent said they were concerned about the amount of money they throw in the garbage, and 45 percent said they were bothered because the wasted food could have gone to feed someone in need. A paltry 15 percent said they were disconcerted by the environmental damage caused by their half-eaten Lunchables and thrown-away casserole leftovers.

It’s natural for people to first think about themselves—and the amount of cash they’re wasting—before considering their neighbors or the world at large. But most of the respondents seem to have underestimated the toll that food waste has on the environment. Just because you see your wallet and family more often than you see landfills doesn’t mean the problem ceases to exist.

So, Why Should You Care? According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 20 percent of American landfill capacity is made up of food waste. But the problem is by no means limited to stateside overabundance. The United Nations Environment Programme estimates that as food rots and decomposes, it produces 3.3 billion tons of methane—a known greenhouse gas and contributor to global warming—worldwide every year. Food waste is also exacerbating the water shortage caused by worldwide drought: More water is wasted every year on growing food that is never eaten than the annual flow of Europe’s longest waterway, the Volga River.

So next time you’re about to trash those brown-spotted bananas sitting on your counter, think beyond your wallet and consider the Earth. Also, everyone knows the overripe ones make the best banana bread.