Blog 3: Food Waste=Starvation

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

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Dear FDA,

     As we all know when it comes to food, there are many regulations that have to be done before it can be sold to the public. First, they producer has to make sure the food is ready to be put out and not just sent out not knowing if there is anything wrong with the food. This is a major one because without proper sanitation for food, a lot of people can get sick and it can kill a lot of people. Salmonella is one of the biggest food borne illnesses out there. If the producer of a certain food for example fish, and they sell it with Salmonella in it because they did not check if it was clean or not, than it can kill a lot of people and they can get blamed and even sued because of it. Without food sanitation, than hundreds of thousands of people could die.
     Another problem with sanitation is that if you do not use the correct personal protective equipment or PPE, than it could possibly get the food contaminated. If you are working in the factory where they packaged the food and you cut yourself without knowing it than you could get the food contaminated and possibly get more of that food contaminated. Also, if you do not where gloves while you package the food and you have some sort of disease, than you could easily contaminate the food without knowing.
     Food contamination is a huge problem when it comes to packaging and even serving food. We need to make sure that we are properly checking to see if the food is properly handled and packaged before we sell it to anyone.

      Sincerely,
                   Evan Roy

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Dear FDA,

In America and Europe are the leading countries of food production yet, billion worth of food is wasted. Those countries agriculture and food industries are producing more food than needed to feed the citizen. Food is expanding to all kinds of different types of food, but there's a expires day on every food. Producing too much food in a short period of time is wasteful. Most food products in America are not eaten, and more food are being thrown out. There still the issue of hunger around the world, who struggle to receive food. Restaurants and markets are afraid of giving leftover food to those who needed it. The lack of understanding of the processes of donating food cause restaurants owes and farmers to throw away food, and it is more convenient for them to waste rather than give. They do not know that law enforcement supported food donation. They can sue donated food if there is an problem. So far there are only three cases related to the food donations. All the overproduce food is technically being trashed and send to landfill. Overproduction is damaging the ecological and expensive economically. There should have some changes in the thought of food being directly focused on marketing rather than actual usage to feed people. As the improvement of modern days food has become something that is luxury. Marketing has created a variety of strategy to promote their food. For example, the shelf on the grocery store is full of food, a better view for the consumers and the likely chance of buying it. Also, food has the brand to represent the company and new business related to food. There’s already have plenty of fast food stores, restaurants, food markets and more food business over these recent years. Therefore, food wastes will become more problematic over time. The school and government can enlighten us and the food business about the fact of the issue of the wastefulness of food are harmful to landfill. The rotten organic elements such as food are creating methane gas that is the significant pollution corporating to global warming. Organic food decomposes and becomes good fertilizer for plants. Control and reducing the amount of food being wasted. By producing sustainable food for the population and donating so food is eaten, not wasted. The separation of trash into different categories, which will improve the issue of the landfill. There is limited land to provide the increasing amount of debris we are producing. That why it is important to start as soon as possible to speed up the process of improving the separation of trash.

Sincerely,

Mandy Lu

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Dear United States Department of Agriculture,

Most of the ethics now a days that farmers use are not good for the environment. Your industry is responsible for a little over one third of the green house gas emissions. These green house gas emissions are putting holes into the Earths ozone and also melting the ice in the poles. Each individual cow emits 30 to 50 gallons of methane a day through their stomach gas. Another thing that is effecting the environment is the over use of pesticides on crops. Chronic diseases are brought up from crops because they are essentially poisonous to keep the pests away so there is no way that it can be doing anything good for the environment or humans. Another point about farmers doing damage to the environment is deforestation. In the United states 260 million acres of land has been deforested to make room for crops. This is astronomical because trees are an essential part of our environment because trees can take CO2 and convert it into oxygen so trees are taking pollutants out of the air and turning it into oxygen so we can breath better. The next thing is water pollution. Agriculture uses around 70 percent of the earths clean water. Farmers are not using water effectively. One technique that farmers use is flooding their crops. This technique uses millions of gallons of water that doesn't all have to be used. Also all the huge tractors and other farming vehicles use fossil fuels that emit a ton of pollutants. This is first off wasting natural gasses and destroying the Earths surface from all the wear and tear that they do. The last issue is food waste. Farms all across America have a standard for their foods that they produce so if a product is not up to the farmers standards by physical appearance but is still completely healthy they will toss it because they do not believe it will sell. I believe that they should at least be donated rather than just thrown away. I hope that this letter can influence the people of your department a little bit.

Thank you, John Leland

School Lunches are Boring and Repetitive BLOG 3

Every day of middle school I was stuck to choose between pizza or a spicy chicken sandwich. For three years I was limited to only these foods and it became a boring routine. The food left no room for creativity or even nutrition. The chicken was often bits smashed together and frozen from a farm 1500 miles away. There's no way this kind of food can help students' performance in the classroom.
Kids need to be eating better food that isn't prepared so for in advance. A lot of kids look forward to the lunch meal and/or breakfast meal that they get at school because they don't get it regular anywhere else. Also, kids should be more educated on how to eat healthy and what foods are good for you. Teaching kids valuable life lessons with food can be a beneficial impact on the students inside and outside the classroom. It could help the population become more aware about what they are eating and not just the students. Having classes that teach students how to cook would also be very beneficial to the student. It could teach those who have a big role in their family to provide for the household in a great way. Its a good life skill that people should all have. Doing this in schools would also give some kids more of a motivation to go to school. Being able to have a class that you love going to everyday makes sure they are in the classroom getting the education that will help them out for decades. Food is such a big part of culture and our world and should be used more in schools to teach more life lessons and skills. 

Shaye Koszer The food we feed children.

I think that a problem we do not look at as a group is the amount of sugars that are in specific foods, or even just looking at how much sugars are in foods, epecially when it comes to children from elementary to college. The education given on foods is so limited that when it comes to things like natural sugars and added shugars many people think that they are the same things. Many of the schools lunches include starch, donuts, cupcakes, and basically anything that is high in shugar. Although the standards have changed the foods they are reciving are still unhealthy, and not neccesary for a healthy diet. The New York Times talks about the time children have to eat and of what they really will eat in that small amount of time. They say,  "Whether pressed for time or just grossed out, leave much of their meals untouched; particularly neglected are the fruits and vegetables, which they are now FORCED to put on their trays before they can exit the cafeteria line."
I understand the why specific foods are able to make it into the caffeterias. They are not expencive, and they taste good to the children who are able to eat them. However in the case that this could be a childs only lunch, for most, it should be one that has everything they need, and it should be longer them 20 minutes.

Dear Yogurt Shops

To whom it may concern:

I have been working at a yogurt shop for the past two years, and over my time there I have noticed many wasteful food practices being taught and are commonly accepted by most of the employees. many of the fresh toppings that are put out often are washed and prepped. In this process of washing the fruit, our job is to pick out any berry that looks like it has been rotted or beat up. No standard is taught so many of the employees throw out perfectly good strawberries and raspberries that can easily be salvaged for a topping. So how might we limit this fruit waste? Lets start with the rotted fruit, if there is a spot or piece of the berry that is effected and can be removed then use a knife and cut around it, rather than tossing half a carton of fruit into the dumpster because of some white fur growing out the pores of a strawberry. Second a lot of fruit can go bad if not properly stored or managed so STOP over stocking! Much of the food that is wasted is due to the fact that the establishment has over ordered fruit with the idea that the fruit will stay good for more than a week which would make sense if the fridge's temperature didn't fluctuate due to the active foot traffic a store with the majority of its inventory needing to be refrigerated. It is time to start making better conscious food choices when it comes to wasting "almost rotten" food. Less waste = less money spent its simple and easy to fix. 

Sincerely, Jackson Litchfield

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Dear FDA,

   There is a problem occurring that has become an issue, which is the distribution of food around the world. Specially, the food being distributed around the world is unfair and unequal, as well as being unhealthy. Furthermore, the food being distributed around the world that is meant to feed the people are difficult to obtain due to high prices. Also, the food being imported from other countries can potentially be dangerous towards the public health due to lack of supervision or care into the foods condition and overall quality. Our food system is unjust because it does not provide healthy, affordable food to everyone. People in urban areas often have no access to any fresh food at all because there are no grocery stores. Likewise, rural residents in the heart of agricultural areas sometimes cannot afford to buy the very food they may help to harvest. According to a survey of farm workers in Fresno, county – conducted by The California Institute of Rural Studies – in 2007, 45 percent faced food insecurity. Also, children who are hungry at home are more likely to depend on school lunch programs for most of their nourishment. Also, the FDA is not authorized under the law to approve, certify, license, or otherwise sanction individual food importers, products, labels, or shipments. Importers can import foods into the United States without prior sanction by FDA, as long as the facilities that produce, store, or otherwise handle the products are registered with FDA, and prior notice of incoming shipments is provided to FDA.According to international and national NGO representatives, the government continues to hamper their access to the resettled areas. As a result, vulnerable persons, including former farm workers, are largely excluded from food aid provided by the international food program. Sources in the agricultural industry reported that the government restricts general distributions of international food in the resettled areas on the basis that such distributions would show that the land reform program has been a failure GMB distributions in the resettled areas have also been inadequate The government reportedly perceives farm workers as supporters of the Movement of Democratic Change (MDC). It also asserts that farm workers who receive food aid become food aid dependent and are unwilling to work. Sources familiar with the farm workers’ situation have found, however, that food aid enables farm workers to work their own plots of land rendering them more self-sufficient and financially better off. Without food aid, farm workers are often compelled to work for less than minimum wage as casual farm laborers in order to buy food.

Dear Washoe County District Health Department

To Whom it May Concern:
I was a student in WCSD for elementary through high school.  As a student I saw considerable food waste.  For example, if bananas were on the menu for that day and not all of them were eaten the kitchen staff were not allowed to just give them away.  According to your regulations, there was no guarantee of clean food practices.  I understand that there are regulations for safe food handling but I also believe that there needs to be reasonable regulations. Another example of food waste that I witnessed was with the main course. If you wanted seconds you would have to pay, and if you could not afford it then you would have to pass. After lunch everyday we would walk through the cafeteria, and watch all of the cooked food that did not get eaten being thrown away.  If it could be offered for free there would be less waste and less children that are hungry.  Also we would see the leftover bananas or other fruit get thrown out. A parent made a deal with the kitchen staff that when they were going to throw away a box of fruit the staff would call the parent.  The parent would then pick it up outside the cafeteria and take it to the food bank. It is against regulations for the kitchen staff to donate the extra food.  This makes no sense.  I think we can make a clear system for less food waste and therefore less hunger.
Sincerely,
Joel Constantino - Smith

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To whom it may concern,

I am currently employed at C******* of the S**** working within the dining staff as a server for over a year now.
Throughout my time working here, I have first-hand witnessed restaurant food waste in multiple capacities.  A 2014 study found
that 84.3% of unused food in American restaurants ends up being disposed of, while 14.3% is recycled, and only 1.4% is donated.
That translates over to restaurants generating 11.4 million tons of food waste, costing about $25 billion per year. Food waste and
food insecurity are both very real and very large problems in the United States. At our location, every shift we throw away a
plentiful amount of unused foods such as full bins of bread, soups, and complete trays of entrees. Some nights the chefs will even
refuse to serve the leftovers to the staff without a meal ticket and right into the trash it goes in front of us. When I first suggested
donation, I was immediately shut down by the Dining Director due to legality and transportation, “It’s too much of a legal issue
if someone gets sick.” At the time I rescinded but there is actually no available public record of anyone in the United States being
sued because of harms related to donated food. This a very common misconception in the restaurant industry and unfortunately
contributes in a very large scale. The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act was passed in 1996, which protects
restaurants from civil and criminal liability should a recipient get ill or hurt as a result of consumed donated food. (Excluding
intentional and malicious causes.) I do although propose that rather than focusing on food banks for donation due to their high
volume deals, finding local soup kitchens and college pantries would be the most efficient and direct route. In hand with this,
establishing packaging procedures should be the main concern. It’s an investment to the Earth.

Donation is not the only way to reduce waste, it also has to be addressed and controlled down to the root by food waste
management. I first propose establishing waste audits and reinforcing procedures to go along. The primary goal of a waste
audit is to identify where waste comes from, so we can then find ways to reduce it, thus creates numerical values to generate
a blueprint for action. This can be done by providing the dining staff with logs to track not only what is being thrown out but
also why it’s been thrown out including the amount. By keeping a record, the kitchen will have a deeper
understanding/knowledge because it allows the opportunity to evaluate the inventory and maximize shelf life in storage.
We receive delivery every Tuesday and Thursdays, but often times the kitchen still runs out of an item. Not due to
consumerism, but due to what ends up being wasted. Disposables are also a very large issue at our establishment and I propose
offering incentives to promote eco-friendliness.

By initiating a partnership with organizations, donations would not only benefit the company but the community as well.
By self-reflecting and auditing food waste, a lot of money can be saved.

Sincerely,

Caro Serrano