The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization released results from a study in 2011 that showed, as a global population, we waste 1/3 of the food we produce. This translates to about 1.3 billion tons per year of wasted food across the entire supply chain (which means that food is not only being wasted by us as consumers but also from producers and farmers and such). The negative impacts of food waste don’t even end at having less food! Our food waste is actually contributing to greenhouse gas emissions – a total of 8% globally. According to the Washington Post, if food waste were a country, it would come in third place for the top contributor of greenhouse gas emissions and global warming – just after the United States and China.

Where is food being wasted?

Most of the food that’s being calculated into the 1/3 figure is food that’s left out in the field, but these numbers are super dependent on where the food is coming from and where it ends up. In high/medium income countries, like the United States, just less than half of food waste (40%) is a result of consumption from our groceries and markets (i.e. the food we throw away at home). In lower income countries, food isn’t wasted so much by consumers, so we primarily see the loss during the processing stages. However, the losses in lower income countries don’t typically occur out of carelessness. Lower income countries are more likely to have poor agricultural infrastructure to harvest, transport, and store their food.

Why does it matter that we’re wasting food?

Project Drawdown, a research organization that reviews, analyzes, and identifies the most viable global climate solutions, has estimated that the total amount of food produced globally will continue to increase with population growth, economic development, general food consumption, and our continued wasteful habits. With these increases in mind, the increase in food production would need to be roughly 107 million tons per year by 2050.

But it’s not as simple as upping our food production! In order to meet these projected levels of production, we would need to convert more than a billion acres of forest and grassland into farmland over the next 30 years. In doing so, we would release about 8.4 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. These extra emissions don’t even include the emissions we would get from our increased agricultural production and consumption!

So how do we handle food waste?

Prevention is the most helpful long-term solution. As consumers, we need to practice being more cognizant of what we buy and when we can reasonably eat the food. Buying local is a good way to cut down on our carbon footprint as well since the food and materials we’re buying wouldn’t need to travel such long distances.

Inevitably, though, we are going to run into food waste at some point in our lives. So what do we do with it?

Can’t food just go in our garbage bins?

Technically, yes. However, when we put food in our garbage bins, we’re taking up valuable space in landfills.

But food decomposes

Also true! It’s just that in landfills, it takes so much longer for food to decompose.

Food is an organic material and, as such, can be broken down by other living organisms – fungi, bacteria, microbes. This process is known as decomposition. When food decomposes, it’s broken down into its basic parts and these parts are recycled back into nature as the building blocks for new life. While organic matter can break down without oxygen, it occurs at much quicker speeds when oxygen is present.

In landfills, everything is so compact that oxygen isn’t as present as it otherwise could be. Oxygen speeds the process up by breaking the molecules apart through a process called oxidation. In a recent landmark study conducted through the University of Arizona, researchers cracked open and old landfill only to find that they could still recognize food items from 25 years ago! This was also the case with paper products, like newspapers. In fact, the group stumbled across a 50-year-old newspaper and discovered the paper was still readable!

There are some landfills that try to assist by promoting decomposition through a process of injecting water, oxygen, and microbes. These sorts of landfills are known as bioreactor landfills. As of right now, there are about 9 states that have bioreactor landfills. However, that number is not likely to grow exponentially because these landfills are expensive to implement.

If we can’t send food to landfills, what do we do with it?

One of the best alternatives to land-filling our food is to compost it!

What is Compost?

Compost is organic matter, like food, that has gone through the biodegrading process. By composting, we can actively recycle organic materials that would otherwise go to waste. When we recycle these organic materials, we get an end product that we can continue to use!

What is Compost used for?

Compost is most widely used for gardening, but it can also lend a helping hand with landscaping, horticulture, and urban agriculture. In ecosystems outside of our gardens, compost can be used to help with erosion control, land and stream reclamation, wetland construction, and even as a landfill cover.

What’s required with Compost?

There are some general guidelines to make sure that your compost is usable and not a nuisance.

In order to get good compost, you need 4 equally important “ingredients”.

Oxygen, of course!
Carbon is necessary to provide energy to the compost. High carbon materials are usually brown and dry, like leaves or hay.
Nitrogen is needed so that the organisms in the compost can grow, reproduce, and interact with the carbon. Materials with nitrogen are going to be colorful, like fruits and vegetables.
Adding water helps to stabilize the activity. It’s important not to add too much water, though, because too much can deplete the oxygen that’s available.

How can I start Composting?

The type of compost pile/bin that we can utilize is heavily dependent on where we live and what’s available.

Composting can be challenging, especially for individuals who live in apartments. Going Zero Waste, a zero-waste blog managed by Kathryn Kellogg features a guide on Apartment Living Compost. Alternatively, compost can be kept in your freezer (because it can get smelly if the ingredients are not in the right proportions when at room temperature) and taken elsewhere to compost. Some municipalities have composting facilities for residents, but there’s also community-wide efforts to establish composting habits. Check with your local farmers market and ShareWaste, a website connecting people who want to compost with those who have composters!

If you’re not in an apartment and are ready to dive into the world of compost, some resources include: How to Make a DIY Compost Bin, 5 Gallon Bucket Compost Bin, and Easy Guide to Starting Compost at Home.

Some important mentions

Not every food item deserves to be in a compost bin. This is mostly because some foods can attract pests or slow down the composting time. Items that should generally be left out of your compost pile (unless you have proper materials, like a bokashi bin) are going to be meat, dairy, and fats.

If composting is totally out of the question, another helpful way to contribute is just by being mindful. In recent years, we’ve seen an overemphasis on the appearance of food. Fruits and vegetables that are otherwise still good and nutritious are being thrown out because they lack in the looks department. By picking produce with appearance at the back of our mind (if we consider it at all!), we are still playing a role in non-wasteful food consumption!

Takeaways

Composting is super individualistic and can be played with! In the end, the only thing that really matters is that we’re trying. According to Project Drawdown, the research organization mentioned earlier, worldwide implementation of composting can reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 2.3 billion tons over the next 30 years.

Composting: Heaps of Fun