It is no secret that here in the United States food waste is something that our country is known for. According to the USDA (2022), “over one-third of all available food goes uneaten through loss or waste”. This is very discouraging because these amounts of food waste can have negative effects upon the environment.
The main concern is the impact of large quantities of rotting foods at landfills which span large sections of land, generating the emissions of greenhouse gasses. These greenhouse gasses travel into the air and create a cloud around the earth’s surface, impacting climate control. In the United States, human-related gas emissions are the third-largest sources since 2017 according to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (2017).
Given that our earth is already in a dire situation from the release of other forms of greenhouse gasses, we need to find a way to manage our food waste more efficiently and less harmful to the environment. If more food could be donated to those in need or the overall production of food be reduced, then we could prevent the harmful side-effects of so much food waste in the United States.
