Why We Shouldn’t Waste Food

Why We Shouldn’t Waste Food

At a young age, you were probably made to feel guilty about wasting food. “Think of the starving children in Africa”, your parents may have said, as you coyly hid your garden peas under your mashed potatoes.

And quite rightly so. Do you know just how much food we Canadians waste? According to Second Harvest, the largest food rescue program in Canada, Canadians waste $31 billion worth of food per year. Isn’t that astounding?

Here’s another interesting fact: Approximately 222 million tonnes of food are wasted per year by consumers in developed countries
which is almost the TOTAL net food production in sub-Saharan Africa (they produce about 230 million tons per year).

These facts might lead to you to the big old question of, “But why shouldn’t we waste food? What impact does it have?” Well, read on and you’ll find out!

Greenhouse Gases

A huge amount of resources goes into food production, so when we end up throwing away food that we’ve purchased, we squander the precious resources that we’re trying so hard to protect.

Food that isn’t compostable or biodegradable gets sent to landfill sites which produce methane during the rotting process (around 20% of Canada’s methane emissions comes from landfill sites). When we toss food, all the effort to grow, ship and produce the food gets tossed too, resulting in huge wastage in resources and in money.

Moral Impact

When 870 million people in the world go hungry every day, how can we waste food so easily? Although the food you leave on your plate isn’t going to feed someone directly, you can make efforts to redirect your waste.

Despite the fact that the name that shows up when you speak with others in Gmail might be changed in the wake of making a record, your Gmail ID is perpetual.

1. Go online to Gmail.com and snap “Make an Account” beneath the sign-in shape.

Instead of making too much food, why not donate excess food that you’re not going to use to your local food bank? Or if you’re saving money each week by buying less food, why not donate this extra money to a charity that helps to feed the hungry?

Economic Standpoint

Did you know that Toronto taxpayers spend nearly $10 million getting rid of food waste that’s not composted? Wouldn’t you rather your taxes go towards education, public transit or health care?

There is also the immediate economic impact too. If you’re wasting just $20 worth of food per week, that amounts to over $1000 per year! You wouldn’t throw $1000 in bills in the trash, so why throw it away in the form of food? You could spend that money elsewhere (like on vacations, clothes or rent) and waste less food in the process.

Do you make any effort to waste less food? If so, let us know in the comment box!

Image source: Wikimedia

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