Summary- The article explains how there has been a high increase in food waste and obesity in the United States.
- The Economists Intelligence and the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition Foundation ranked 25 countries for sustainability. They ranked them by using the three pillars; food loss and waste, sustainable agriculture, and nutrition. - Of the 25 countries includes, the United States was ranked as: "19th for prevalence of overweight in children, 24th for prevalence of over-nourishment, 23rd for physical activity levels and 25th for prevalence of unhealthy diets." - It also explains how "on food waste per capita per year," the United States was 23rd of 25 countries. In other words, around 30 to 40 percent of its food produced is being wasted, "which equals more than 20 lbs. per person per month." - Some ways that the USA is trying to decrease its food waste is "grassroots campaigns" that emerges thanks to the Good Samaritan Law. - The Good Samaritan Law "makes it easier for retailers to donate food to charities," meaning that they do not throw it away. |
US Ranks Low on Food Sustainability IndexFacts- "The food Sustainability Index was established to explore the paradoxes in food systems."
- The three paradoxes are "sustainability, hunger, and nutrition." - "On the index for sustainable agriculture, the United States ranked 19th of 25, with low scores for environmental impact of agriculture on water (23rd), impact on land of animal feed and biofuels (25th)." - The USA was also ranked according to its environmental impact of agriculture "on the atmosphere (21st), but high scores for environmental biodiversity (2nd) and climate change mitigation (tied for 1st)." - Overall, the USA ranked "11th of the 25 countries measured." |
Key Terms- Food waste: Food that is discarded or lost uneaten. The causes of food waste or loss are numerous, and occur at the stages of production, processing, retailing and consumption.
- Obesity: The condition of being grossly fat or overweight. - Food sustainability Index: Resulting from progress and performance in promoting sustainable agriculture, ensuring healthy nutrition, and reducing food waste and losses. - Nutrition: The process of providing or obtaining the food necessary for health and growth. - Over-nourishment: A form of malnutrition in which the intake of nutrients is oversupplied. - Hunger: A feeling of discomfort or weakness caused by lack of food, coupled with the desire to eat. - Biofuels: A fuel derived directly from living matter. |
Opinion
In my opinion, food waste and obesity will keep increasing in the United States. Unfortunately, both in poor and rich countries food are thrown away every day. But, there is a difference between why individuals throw their food away. For example, in poor countries, food is usually lost while is in the field (ex. when plants are growing, there is a big possibility that they die due to water, sunlight, temperature, pest, diseases, chemical, nutritional, and fertilizer issues) or they can get lost while storage and transportation. In other words, in the case of poor countries, it is not an individual's fault that the food is wasted, but when talking about rich countries, the fault goes to humans. There is a statistic that explains that half of the food purchase in the United States is thrown away, but why? One of the main reasons as for why individuals do this is because they get full too fast, they do not want to save the food for later, and/or they dislike the food. Sadly, food waste affects the environment dramatically. This is because "food waste ends up in landfills produces a large amount of methane - a more powerful greenhouse gas than even CO2." And not only that, but also "with agriculture accounting for 70 percent of the water used throughout the world, food waste also represents a great waste of freshwater and groundwater resources." Another problem occurring in the United States is obesity which is known as one of the leading causes of death since it creates multiple diseases. The connection between obesity and food waste is that individuals that are considered to be overweight are one of the main individuals that are wasting food that can be donated to many people that are suffering from micronutrient deficiencies.