The last speaker we had on Monday was Anna Applefield, a research associate with the Global Food Security Project at CSIS. She spoke with us about food security. I have to say, her presentation definitely opened my eyes to the trend in eating habits in America.
In America, about 40% of all food ends up in the garbage. That's a large number, but also consider this. In developing countries, the reasons for food being thrown away is spoilage and improper packaging. In America, the majority of food that is thrown away is plate waste. You can think to yourself that it isn't right, but remembering the last meal that I had, I realized that I had thrown away the majority of the food on that plate. Portion sizes in restaurants now are becoming so much larger, and this is one of the main reasons for the large amount of waste.
In terms of people, the US has only 6% of the world's population. In terms of weight, the US has 34% of the world's mass. Those numbers are unacceptable. Diabetes is one of the largest problems in America, while hunger is a leading problem in developing countries. Doesn't that seem crazy? We have all of these great resources here, and they are being wasted, while other areas of the world are literally dying for what we are throwing away.
In America, about 40% of all food ends up in the garbage. That's a large number, but also consider this. In developing countries, the reasons for food being thrown away is spoilage and improper packaging. In America, the majority of food that is thrown away is plate waste. You can think to yourself that it isn't right, but remembering the last meal that I had, I realized that I had thrown away the majority of the food on that plate. Portion sizes in restaurants now are becoming so much larger, and this is one of the main reasons for the large amount of waste.
In terms of people, the US has only 6% of the world's population. In terms of weight, the US has 34% of the world's mass. Those numbers are unacceptable. Diabetes is one of the largest problems in America, while hunger is a leading problem in developing countries. Doesn't that seem crazy? We have all of these great resources here, and they are being wasted, while other areas of the world are literally dying for what we are throwing away.