I always had the impression that the discussion surrounding food waste revolved around the household; the culprits discarding excess food were the consumers living at home. However, it was interesting to watch Tristram Stuart, in his TED Talk titled “The Global Food Waste Scandal, discuss how the food industry perpetuates the food waste issue behind the scenes.
The graph that Stuart introduces to the viewer demonstrates the staggering amount of surplus food each country is producing relative to the amount actually required to feed every citizen. While some surplus is acceptable to ensure a stable and nutritional diet for every citizen, Stuart illustrates the overabundance in food supply that exceeds this acceptable surplus amount. America has twice the amount of food required to feed the American people. Additionally, if we factor in edible crops that are fed to livestock, America likely has four times the amount of food it requires. As Stuart suggested, it doesn’t quite make sense to simply increase global food production when many countries produce more than comfortable amounts of food.
Stuart also discusses food waste along the industrial supply chain, citing that many crops with aesthetic blemishes are discarded and deemed unacceptable for supermarket shelves. Perhaps this is indicative of our culture and food habits, where we avoid eating food that’s less than perfect. I’ll admit I had this irrational mindset growing up, particularly with fruits that looked misshapen or bruised. However, we shouldn’t be tossing out perfectly good food just because they lack visual appeal. Stuart mentions that Europe depends on importing soy from South America to feed livestock. While this contributes to global warming and deforestation, there’s also the missed opportunity to recycle excess food back into feeding livestock rather than simply leaving it for anaerobic digesters. Taking into account the savings in land use and forest area, this method of disposing wasted food could save much more in CO2 emissions.
Tristram Stuart: “The Global Food Waste Scandal”
Interesting post! I see that you included a link to Tristam’s TED Talk; however, it would’ve been helpful to include the specific graph you reference in paragraph two.
As I understand it, surplus food is not as much a cause of food waste as it is a potential solution to the issue. Surplus food can be used to feed livestock (as you mention), exported, or used as part of domestic or international food aid programs. At its core, food waste is not an issue of overproduction, but rather the byproduct of an affluent culture with privileged values, ridiculous cosmetic standards (for fresh produce, animal products, and even processed foods), and collective separation from the process of food production.
Food insecurity in affluent countries like ours looks significantly different from that in developing countries. As Michael Pollan discusses in In Defense Of Food, we are surrounded by cheap, nutritionally-lacking, edible food-like substances. Developing countries lack the economic viability necessary to appeal to food manufacturing giants and their products. In addition to redirecting food waste to livestock feed, developing countries may be an equally practical and beneficial destination for this food. To the point of our culture and its values, however, I think we need to embrace and embody a shift in thinking throughout the commodity chain (including at the consumer level). If we viewed food as a privilege, rather than an absolute right, I think we’d come to maintain significantly more respectful and humble consumption habits.
I really enjoyed Tristram Stuart’s talk as well. One of the things I found so interesting was that he steered his presentation to speak to consumers in the Global North. I think this may be tactical and admittedly, food waste is an enormous topic to cover in a short speech. But food waste happens throughout the food chain – from the field to what you call consumers living at home. Tristram, I think strategically directs his talk to those of us who might look at a banana with a few too many dark spots as a bad thing and he may be right to do so. 40% of the wasted food in the North is wasted at the consumer level. We are an inherently wasteful culture, from food to water, to energy. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from Tristram’s talk for me was that a cultural shift is necessary here, one that leads us to stop ignoring the damage we currently inflict around the globe in our over consumption. Finally, your thoughts on recycling the excess soy to feed livestock rather than continuing deforestation to create pasture, are considerate of the larger systems into which the European farmers and consumers fit. Like us they will have to eventually com to terms with the limitations of those systems.