In Germany alone, around eleven million tons of food waste are disposed of every year. This is unnecessary, expensive and bad for the climate – and also a problem in other countries. A US state has found ways to successfully tackle food waste.
Anyone who has ever stood in a US supermarket may have felt small and a little lost amidst the long rows and large packages. The amounts of food that are thrown away in the USA are also large. 103 million tons of food end up in the trash here every year. The problem has been identified. States and cities have put it on their agenda. And it brings experts into the picture who deal with the consequences for the climate. Because they are big too. Food waste in the US causes twice as many greenhouse gas emissions as commercial aviation, writes the New York Times. Some experts would therefore see reducing food waste as one of the best solutions to combat climate change.
Every single citizen plays an important role in this. 39 percent of food waste in the US comes from private households. This is a larger proportion than that from restaurants or supermarkets. One region in the state of Ohio has managed to put the issue on the radar of its residents: with persuasion.
Wasting food costs money – you can work with it
The “New York Times” tells the success story of the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio, or Swaco for short, which is responsible for solid waste in the region. While she’s not the only agency in the country trying to get people to stop throwing away food, she’s one of the few to have measured the success of her awareness campaign. Their main goal: People should buy less food. The production and transport of food that is never eaten accounts for a large part of the food waste carbon footprint.
The agency relied on social media posts, newsletters and postcards for its campaign. And the message that it’s good to buy less and thus throw less away. The best way to do this is with money, the former head of the authority is quoted as saying. The campaign has therefore emphasized the costs, as the “New York Times” reports, listing the $1,500 that an average family in Central Ohio spends each year on food they don’t eat. 22 million gallons of gasoline used annually to transport food that ends up being thrown away. Wasting food costs money. You can work with that.
The authority also provided tips: shop with a list, create meal plans, freeze leftovers. A survey of residents after three months showed that they threw away 23 percent less food than before. The example from one region cannot automatically be transferred to others. But similar campaigns from Canada and Great Britain show that food waste has also been reduced there.
Food waste is also a problem in Germany
The USA with their love of fast food, the Germans with their bread culture are common clichés. And people like to point their fingers overseas when it comes to finding examples of poor nutrition and waste. But Germany is by no means a model student, as this figure alone shows: According to the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, around eleven million tons of food waste are disposed of in Germany every year. Some of it is inedible food, some is still edible.
According to studies, 35 percent of avoidable food waste is fresh fruit and vegetables, 13 percent bread and baked goods, followed by beverages at 11 percent and dairy products at 9 percent. While the rush to the food banks in Germany is increasing, tons of food end up in the bin elsewhere. This raises distribution issues. It’s unnecessary and bad for the climate.
In Germany, too, the topic is a political one and has been part of debates, especially in the past few weeks – in different ways.
Consumer center: “Trust your own senses!”
On the one hand, there is the best-before date for food. Peter Hauk from Baden-Württemberg has been chairman of the Consumer Protection Ministers’ Conference since this year. He believes that the best-before date in its current form should be abolished. “Because there is still a reason why too much food is thrown away,” he was quoted as saying by the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. Hauk spoke of a “more appropriate designation”, for example a “quality guaranteed until”. The term best-before date evokes the association that after the expiry date it is inedible.
The consumer center points out that a product can often still be enjoyed after the “expired MHD” (best before date) and is not automatically spoiled if the originally sealed packaging has been stored properly. In addition, some manufacturers set the best-before date early to be on the safe side: “If the best-before date of the yoghurt from the refrigerator has expired, that does not mean that the milk product is bad and can no longer be eaten.” You can use your own senses to check whether products are still edible or not: “See, smell and taste – trust your own senses!”
Containers is political
Another current debate deals with containers. Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) and Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) want to ensure that nobody is punished for taking edible food out of waste containers. However, there are no plans to change the law at federal level for the time being. Rather, in a joint letter to the justice ministers and senators of the federal states, the two federal ministers are promoting support for a proposal by the state of Hamburg from 2021. Several countries have at least signaled a willingness to talk.
The proposal in summary: Anyone who climbs over a low wall to get to the supermarket’s waste container and takes groceries with them should not be prosecuted for theft. On the other hand, anyone who breaks open and damages a gate in search of food that can still be eaten would still have to expect a penalty.
Cheese, wine and co.
Warning: These foods are not (always) vegan or vegetarian – although many believe so
As in campaigns in other countries, persuasion, education and tips also play a role in Germany. The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture is campaigning against food waste with its information initiative. This includes recipes for leftovers and tips on how to keep fruit and vegetables fresh for longer.
Changing habits is usually quite difficult for people. In Central Ohio, therefore, a significant part of the campaign is the very young target group: elementary school students, six and seven year olds. So that they don’t even start wasting food later on.
Sources: , , , , , , , with material from the dpa
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
