Hunger affects 1 out of every 6 people according to dosomething.org. Food insecurity and access to nutrient dense foods remain a struggle in the US. Many urban centers offer a large variety of fast food that is expensive –financially and long-term as a health risk. Local markets offer consumers payment options such as debit or EBT (formally food stamps), but lack a supply of attractive produce. Markets in the LA area were filled with an assortment of processed foods that were familiar to immigrant families and had a few brown bananas or soft red apples. Back home in Monterey, the neighborhood market has more produce options, but the fruit is overripe (and many of the dairy products have surpassed their expiration dates). Reno markets have a larger variety of produce that is more firm to the touch and fresher in appearance.
Today, I worked at a local event center as a server where over 35 different types of food and sauces were offered in a span of 6 hours. There were 100 guests in attendance at the event and their food waste (uneaten food) filled a 44-gallon container twice. The weight of food waste was approximately 350 pounds. Because work policy and county health department codes require disposal of food waste, staff was not able to repurpose any of the leftover food from plates. Some of the food tossed into the garbage included whole filet beef tenderloin, macadamia nut & panko crusted mahi mahi, and wedding cake.
I did not realize the extent of culture shock which I experienced after arriving home from the LA trip until I sat down to write this blog entry. I am mortified and appalled at the extreme waste collected from one event held in a small town. The cost of the food waste totaled hundreds of dollars and the amount of waste was duplicated all over the US in much larger quantities during that 6-hour period. I hope that following statistic from the USDA appalls you, too: In the United States, 31 percent—or 133 billion pounds—of the 430 billion pounds of the available food supply at the retail and consumer levels in 2010 went uneaten.
