Earth Day 2020 - Your eyes are bigger than your stomach

It's hard to write about something you are guilty of. As a child, I was never a big eater... my mom used to always try and force me to finish my plate after each meal. Fast forwarding to today, the line of "your eyes must be bigger than your stomach" is absolutely applicable to my case.

According to the NRDC, the United States wastes up to 40% of its food with the average American tossing over 1,250 calories per day per person or more than 400 pounds of food per person annually. At the same time, over 42 million Americans have trouble with even putting food on their tables and making sure their families are fed.

It's not just individuals that are wasteful with food but large corporations, factory farms, manufactures and more make up a large percentage of food waste in the world.

Figure above from the NRDC's Wasted: How America is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill.

So why am I writing this on Earth Day? There are huge environmental impacts that food waste causes every second of every day. According to the EPA, in 2017, over 41 million tons of food waste was generated with only 6% being diverted from a landfill to compostable material. This not only causes landfills to fill up quickly but as food breaks down, it produces methane gases that escape into the atmosphere causing an unbalance of greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are responsible for heating the Earth but with more gases that the Earth doesn't produce naturally and an unbalance of carbon to filter the air, this can and will cause our planet to heat up causing our poles to melt, waters to rise, cities to be underwater, places to become unbearably hot.... the list goes on.

What can you as an individual do to go from being a statistic to an advocate?

- Meal prep: If you have an idea of what you'd like to eat for your meals throughout the week, you are less likely to purchase food that you will waste. Make a steady plan and try to pick meals where you can re-use food products throughout the day.

- Ask your waiter/waitress about the portion size before you place your order: I am awful at getting meals from restaurants that I think "i'll just take it home and eat it later!" Brittany - no, you don't. It sits in the back of the fridge until one day you notice it and forgot even where it came from. Order enough food to satisfy your hunger then and there. If you are one of those whose better about eating leftover food, great! Make sure to bring a Tupperware container to sustainably take your food home. :)

- Eat at restaurants who actively help to fight against Food Waste: There are organizations and tools to help consumers match themselves with local restaurants who actively fight against food waste such as Zero FoodPrint. If there isn't a tool for you to use, simply ask the restaurant what their policy is on food waste.

- Learn to compost or do the research to find a place near you: I live in an apartment complex that does not offer composting. This is no excuse... There are companies like CompostNow who come and take your composting for a monthly fee as well as farmers markets and local farms who may have a composting plan in place. If you have the luxury of being able to do your own composting at home, check on some of these great tips from EarthEasy.

- Read, read, read and do your own Food Waste research: The problem only becomes your issue when you start to educate yourself and see what you could do better. The links i've put in this article are a great start and with a guide like NRDC's Wasted: How America is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill, this should really help get you started on the right track in how you can help reduce food waste. Speaking for myself, I have a long way to go to eliminate as much food waste from my life as I possibly can. But what better way to start than on Earth Day?

Feature Image Photo by Sanjog Timsina on Unsplash