To whom this may concern,
Two of the major issues in America is food waste and starvation. A recently published study funded by the United States Department of Agriculture found that American consumers waste about one pound of food per day, or 225-290 pounds per year. With all that food waste we can feed people that are starving. To me it seems pretty clear, we need to stop throwing away perfectly good food and start donating it.
One of the ways we can begin to fix both starvation and food waste is by donating the "expired" food. Expiration dates refer to food quality, not food safety, which is why they also have the label "Best by...". If the shelters are willing to take the "expired" food then I don't see why they shouldn't donate it instead of throwing it away. Another way we can help fix these situations is by donating the "ugly" food. Ugly food is the food that doesn't pass the FDA's standards. For example if a peach is oddly shaped it is considered ugly and is throwing away. Personally I think that this is one of the most ridiculous things, and I doubt a starving man/women/child is going to care if a piece of fruit is misshapen. The final way to help decrease food waste is by educating people on the situation. I'm sure if you gave people the cold hard facts on how much food they waste compared to the amount of people starving in the US they would waste less food(I know I would). People just need to see how much they're wasting so they can realize what they're doing.
This is a major issue that we, Americans, need to fix or it's going to lead to bigger problems later down the road. So by donating, saving, and educating we can change the way everyone deal with food.
Sincerely,
Sydney Hinkell
I didn't know that the FDA looks at deformity of food and considers it "ugly" and decides to waste it by throwing it away. I thought all foods that are wasted were based on the expiration date.
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