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Street Roots • Feb. 5-11, 2016
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BY JARED PABEN
the issue, in your opinion?
J.B.: Yes and no. In a perfect world, there
t’s at the intersection of squandered
are a few other things I’d love to see
natural resources, wasted money,
included in the bill, but being pragmatic
worsening climate change and persistent
about the matter, the bill, as it’s presently
social injustice, and it’s sitting in your
constructed, isn’t likely to pass. You can t
refrigerator (probably at the back). It s food
have everything. Even the people in
waste, and the United State has a lot of it.
Pingree’s office I’ve spoken to recognize
“To me, it’s absolutely ludicrous to have
that all of the provisions will
40 percent of our food
not
become law and, rather,
" I f Individuals are
supply being wasted while
it’s a starting point for a
looking to make a
15 percent of American
conversation in this murky
significant Im pact on business of representative
households are food
insecure»” author and
the ir household food democracy.
journalist Jonathan Bloom
waste, the best way
said. “That juxtaposition of
J.P.: What do you think are
to do that is sim ply
waste and hunger in a
the most impactful provisions
by baying less food.
country that is so
of it? I know the part where
prosperous is really a shame We don't use about
they talk about regulating the
and is morally callous.”
a quarter of the food
“best by” dates has gotten a lot
But the U.S. is waking up we b rin g home."
oppress.
to food waste at the farm,
JO N ATH AN BLOOM
distribution, retail and
J.B.: I love the idea of
household levels. Last fall,
amending how we handle
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and
date labels in America. And something as
the U .S. D e p a rtm e n t of A griculture s e t th e
sim ple as p u ttin g “m anufacturer’s
I
aim ing to c u t food w aste in half by 2030.
And a new bill in Congress, the Food
Recovery Act of 2015, includes multiple
provisions aimed at reducing waste and
diverting more food to food banks. The bill,
H.R. 4184, would regulate the “sell-by date”
language on products so consumers are less
likely to throw out perfectly edible food
because it’s past date, expand tax breaks for
companies donating to food banks, and
require contractors providing food to the
federal government to donate excess food to
hunger-relief organizations.
Introduced by Maine Democratic Rep.
Chellie Pingree, the bill is in a House of
Representatives committee.
Bloom, author of the Wasted Food blog
and of the 2010 book “American Wasteland:
How America Throws Away Nearly Half of
Its Food (and What We Can Do About It),”
recently talked with me about the bill,
food waste and how individuals can help
prevent i t
Jared Paben: I f enacted into law, how
would the Food Recovery Act affect the lives of
low-income Americans?
Jonathan Bloom: If all of its provisions
pass — and that’s not especially likely — the
bill would increase the amount of fresh food
available for food banks mostly by extending
the tax benefits for donating food from
restaurants and retailers. Additionally, there
would be several other opportunities to
promote donation of healthy foods, partly
through establishing an Office of Food
Recovery but also through encouraging
donation from farms and even schools for
donating excess food.
J.P.: Does the bill go far enough to address
J.B.: Sure, yeah. The average family of
four is throwing away
$2,000 in food that
they discard.
There’s
1
significant
savings to be
had. Just
getting back
to the
buying-less
thing.
Logistically,
what that
often looks
I *
like is simply
W
shopping more I
often and buying
less each trip. But
if you live far from
the store, where it
doesn’t make sens«
to do th at, o r if
suggestion only” n e x t to th e date w ould go a
long way toward minimizing household food
waste. I’d love to see that kind of uniformity.
But at the same time, stepping away from
legislation, I think that we, as individuals,
have to take some responsibility for the
household’s food waste that’s caused by date
labels just by being a bit more savvy about
what those dates actually represent Put
simply, date labels aren’t about food safety.
It’s about the quality of that food.
J.P.: You read my mind. I was actually
going to ask about what some of the steps
are that we, as individuals, can dojo
reduce food waste. Is that a big one? Just
keeping in mind that those “best by” dates
don’t reflect when it’s safe to eat food?
J.B.: Yes, that’s a big one, but not the
most significant. If individuals are
looking to make a significant impact on
their household food waste, the
best way to do that is simply
j RBKJ
by buying less food. We
don’t use about a quarter
of the food we bring
" 'J ^ ,
home. So keeping that a b H *-¿211
in mind the next time
you go shopping will
lead to a dramatic
improvement, by
essentially ensuring
that we don’t “buy
waste.” When we
overpurchase, we’re
almost guaranteeing that we’ll
have too much, and we often put
ourselves in that position just by filling
our refrigerator with all these fresh,
perishable foods that we -couldn’t possibly
eat before they go bad.
JV
J.P.: Taking your advice is better for the
pocketbook, too.
C O N T R IB U T IN G W RITER
n a tio n ’s f ir s t f o o d -w aste r e d u c t io n g o a fs ,
j»
BBB"
Author Jonathan Bloom
wants us to stop wasting
food and start giving
more to people in need
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you simply
prefer a
wH
larger shopping run, then it’s important to
plan out meals. Make a detailed shopping list
and then actually stick to that list when
you’re in the store, which is easier said than
done. I have a couple other bullet point tips.
Saving and then actually eating leftovers is a
big one. But the key there is that you have to
do the latter. It doesn’t do any good to put
leftovers in the fridge and throw them
b out a week later. Using your freezer as
a waste avoider but not simply a waste
delayer. Not serving excessive
portions to family and friends but
rather serving a reasonable amount
and then making it easy for people
to take seconds. And just paying
attention to date labels and not
treating date labels as the ultimate
arbiter of when food will go bad but
trusting your senses of smell and
taste and sight
J.P.: Does America waste more
food than other countries?
See W A S TE , p a g e 11