1 of 14

The problem with food waste

80 million acres of US farmland is used to produce food that is wasted

Food waste in the US could feed the world’s hungry 2 times

Food waste that ends up in landfills and breaks down releases methane gas, a greenhouse gas

25% of the freshwater is used for food that is wasted

Food waste in the US would produce enough energy to power the country for more than a week

2 of 14

Who is the US EPA?

US EPA stands for United States Environmental Protection Agency

Executive agency of the United States created in 1970 that deals with matters that concern environmental protection

Conducts assessments, research and education relating to the environment and is also in charge of enforcing national environmental standards

The EPA created the EPA Food Recovery Hierarchy in order to promote decreasing food waste by 50% by 2023, which is a domestic goal that was set by the EPA and USDA in 2015

3 of 14

What you believe is most preferred options and least preferred options for reducing food waste?

4 of 14

Take the next 5 minutes to sort these from what you believe is most preferred option (1) to least preferred option (6)

Feed Hungry People

Landfill/Incineration

Industrial Uses

Feed Animals

Composting

Source Reduction

5 of 14

What do you think each step means?

Take 3-5 minutes to come up with your own definition for each step with your group and also examples if you can think of any

6 of 14

Source Reduction

Making a list of things you need when you go grocery shopping and sticking to it

Only cook or make what you are going to eat

7 of 14

Feed Hungry People

Donate food to food pantries or food banks

Donate food to your share table in the cafeteria that you aren’t going to eat

8 of 14

Feed Animals

You can feed animals such as pigs your food scraps

Make sure you check to see if the animal you are feeding can eat what you want to give them

For example, dogs should have grapes or chocolate!

9 of 14

Industrial Uses

Anaerobic digestion is one of the most common industrial uses for recovering energy from food waste ( via biogas)
Anaerobic digestion is when without oxygen present, microorganisms break down organic materials

10 of 14

Composting

Composting allows for hummus to be created (an important component of soil)
Composting is when organic material is decomposed in the presence of oxygen

11 of 14

Landfill/Incineration

This is the least preferred option because food waste in landfills and/or incinerators do not allow for anything to recover properly from the food waste

12 of 14

The problems with landfilling and incineration

When food waste is disposed of in landfills, it produces methane, a greenhouse gas, which contributes to climate change
Incineration can cause air pollution ( hazardous gases and particles) which is not good for the environment or for human health
Food waste takes a long time to break down in landfills

13 of 14

Examples!

14 of 14

What happens to the energy?

Which action makes the most out of the foods’ energy?
Which action(s) reclaims the foods’ energy?
Which action(s) recycle the foods’ energy?
Which action(s) result in a loss of energy or produce “bad” energy?