Food waste: Why should we care?

Step by purposeful step toward reducing food waste, by Dr Margaret Burnett.

How we view food can be something quite personal: is it just fuel to keep us going, or an important enjoyment we look forward to each day, or a time we celebrate with family and friends? It represents important nourishment in a myriad of ways. When food arrives at the point when we consume it, we may not necessarily be thinking about where it came from, or how we are disposing of those portions we have not been able to finish.

On the other hand, we are well aware of the information around us about food waste, telling us that in Hong Kong most of any food wasted is disposed of in our landfills. From throwing away uneaten food, or spoiled food, or because we don’t understand the “sell by” dates, there is a significant portion of our waste stream that is made up of food.

In Hong Kong over a third of the city’s Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is food waste. As the EPD says on their website:

The current practice of disposing of biodegradable food waste at landfills is not sustainable and is environmentally undesirable as it depletes the limited landfill space, creates odour nuisance, generates leachate and landfill gases that require further mitigation measures to deal with, and squanders the useful organic contents.

The unfortunate aspect of food decomposing in landfills means methane is emitted – a potent greenhouse gas, in fact 25-28 times more effective as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. If food waste were properly composted we could at least avoid the methane emissions while providing a valuable resource. However, this is just part of the issue.

Food is wasted at all levels of the food system as a result of many factors, some economies have low market prices, high labour and transportation costs, customers demanding perfect-looking produce, retailers and restaurants over-ordering, and households wasting food due to inefficient practices. This is compounded in Hong Kong because living spaces are small, personal composting can be very limited if at all practical. Further, we have messaging that encourages people to take or eat more than they really need, and are encouraged to eat convenience foods, adding to the single-use plastics and packaging waste.

With all this food wasted it is rather tragic to think that 1 in 9 people globally remain malnourished and here in Hong Kong ‘HK Food Angel’ tells us that 1 out of 7 people in Hong Kong is living in poverty, over 22% of children live in poverty, while 1 in 3 seniors cannot meet their nutritional needs.

We can reduce our food waste. If we each do our part we can lighten our footprint while saving money. If you also want to eat healthier, you can reduce the amount meat and increase the plant-based choices throughout the week. Some people start with one day per week going meatless, and since meat is more expensive you can save a few dollars. Meat production is also harder on the environment, and if it has come from overseas we are adding “food miles” which is a double whammy cost to the wallet and the environment. Buying vegetables locally and when in season whenever possible, helps keep the dollars in the local economy, supports local producers, and gives you a health boost since the vegetables are fresher and have not travelled as far.

Taking things a step further, why not skip the bottled water and carry a refillable and refill whenever possible. There are bottles on the market that have a built in filter making the tap water taste a little better, and may also be better for you as sometimes bottled water can sit in warehouses for very long periods of time before they get to the retail shelf.

If you like to cook for yourself and your family, make a meal plan for the week, and write a shopping list to match the meal plan, you will likely save time in the grocery as you won’t wander around aimlessly, plus you won’t impulse shop and spend more than you had planned. Try to use up left overs, perhaps packing them in to your lunch pack for the next day at work. Make a note of your habits. Instead of throwing away half a loaf of bread, and place half the loaf in the freezer while you consume the other half.

If you like to grow a window box or a few herbs you start a small compost heap, a wormery or a bokashi bin. The compost produced from these can be added to your potted plants and herbs.

And oh yeah, don’t go grocery shopping when you’re hungry!

Read the first on TPB’s food waste thinking at Food Tossed = Profit Lost.