Simple steps for combating food waste

Photo via Creative Commons.

by Tommy Tobin, 1L

As law students, we’re busy people. We balance numerous, competing demands on our time in and out of the classroom, but we have to eat. Let’s let our hearts and hands follow our stomachs. Small changes in the way we eat can add up to significant impact.

Whether in an undergraduate dining hall or while eating out at a restaurant, the question arises: where does all the excess food go?  Dining facilities often overproduce, particularly if they are buffet-style. In the United States, nearly 40% of the food produced in the country is thrown out annually. Food waste represents an annual $240 billion loss to the American economy. In addition, this wasted food must go somewhere. All too often, it goes to the landfill, where it decomposes and emits methane – a greenhouse gas over twenty-times more potent than carbon dioxide. For American families of four, household food waste costs an average of $2,200 every year.

While we waste, others often go without. Hunger and food insecurity are increasing and existing food assistance programs are struggling to keep up with this higher demand. Currently, 17.2 million Americans lack regular access to healthy, nutritious foods. According to EPA research, if 5% of America’s food waste was recovered to feed the hungry, four million Americans would be fed every day! As students and as diners, we have the power to change this. We can vote with our forks: choosing taste over waste, eating sensible portions, and keeping control of what we bring onto our plates and into our homes.

In the country I’ll be in next year, Ireland, 1/3 of the food brought into the home is wasted. Living in my apartment this year, I can tell you that my tomatoes are getting pretty soft and there’s an apple in my cupboard which has seen better days. We can take simple steps to address such issues. Jonathan Bloom, in his book American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half of its Food (And What We Can Do About It), recommends the following steps to curb your personal waste.

First, plan your shopping trips – buy less and go more often. By doing so, you’ll know what you get and know that you’ll use it.

Next, eat smaller portions and use smaller plates. Research from Cornell’s Brian Wansink has demonstrated that the size of your plates can “trick” you into eating more or eating less depending on plate-size. Put simply, smaller plates make you feel more full.

Third, repurpose your leftovers. Keep the food from eating out and actually eat it someday. I have a six-inch sandwich from Subway from a couple days ago which is going to be eaten tonight!  Similarly, be creative in the ways you can keep items from going bad by using them together.

Finally, as the most practical matter – don’t overcrowd your fridge! Things that don’t get seen don’t get remembered. Those tomatoes have been languishing at the back of the fridge, out of sight and out of mind. Bloom recommends using a “use-it-up” shelf and packing your fridge with newer items in the back and older groceries in the front.

At Georgetown Law, we’re fortunate to be next to some of the leading organizations combating hunger and food waste, specifically our neighbor, the DC Central Kitchen (DCCK). DCCK fights hunger and creates opportunity by delivering over 1.8 million meals and teaching culinary skills. DCCK transformed over 242,000 pounds of fresh food into jobs and sustainable social enterprises. In fact, DCCK’s social enterprises raised over $5.2 million last year and fed over 4,000 school meals every day for eight local schools.

Let’s get cooking– at the Kitchen and at our kitchens – and start changing the world in small ways, every day. Let’s eat smarter: wasting less and feeding more.

Tommy Tobin is a 1L. He can be reached at tjt28@law.georgetown.edu.