Food is largest single source of waste in CA - 6 million tons of food products are dumped annually

[Kadie]

Vast amounts of food trashed despite incentives
Tina Mather, Kimberly Daniels,Shannon Pence, California Watch

Monday, April 5, 2010


Farmers, restaurants and supermarkets throw away millions of tons of edible food each year at a time when a growing number of Californians struggle to put food on the table.

More than 6 million tons of food products are dumped annually, enough to fill the Staples Center in Los Angeles 35 times over, state studies have found. Food is the largest single source of waste in California, making up 15.5 percent of the state's waste stream, according to the California Integrated Waste Management Board.

An examination by California Watch and the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California found shortcomings along California's food distribution chain that allow vast amounts of food to go to waste in landfills, despite incentives that encourage food donations.

Among the findings:

-- Millions of tons of fruit and vegetables rot in fields and orchards or are plowed over each year. Some of these edible crops are left behind because they are misshapen or discolored. Gleaning programs rescue only a small portion of the field waste.

-- Major retail grocery chains are more likely to throw away fruits, vegetables and even entire hams and roasts than donate to distribution centers. While federal and state laws protect grocers from liability, many stores were concerned that donated food could sicken recipients even if it had not reached its expiration date. While some major chains donate food, others do not.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/04/MNCK1CNVEH.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0kEmLHke8

[slackmaster]

1. I don't have a problem with it being plowed under or composted

I do have a problem with it going into landfills.

[ReverendDeuce]

5. I agree completely.

Send it off to compost, not to a landfill.

[gmoney]

2. So many barriers to donation and redistribution...

...plus a certain mentality of "I'd rather throw it away than give it to a homeless person who won't pay for it... it only encourages idleness and the search for more handouts"

[ReverendDeuce]

4. Do you buy and eat rotten fruit and meat from a grocery store?

No? Then why do you want to poison the homeless and needy with it?

[gmoney]

7. obviously we're NOT talking about rotten foods and meats

But grocers and restaurants and such throw away lots of food that would be perfectly edible if stored properly. Most "sell by" dates are extremely conservative, and I believe are somewhat there to get consumers to throw away food that's fine and buy even "fresher" food. I read somewhere that a lot of those dates are just arbitrary guesses.

My ex was very paranoid about that. If the jug of milk said "Sell by April 5" she'd dump half a gallon out on April 4 as if it would magically curdle at the stroke of midnight -- and the "Use by" date would obviously have to be a few days beyond that.

[ReverendDeuce]

3. Oh for the love of...

"Millions of tons of fruit and vegetables rot in fields and orchards or are plowed over each year. Some of these edible crops are left behind because they are misshapen or discolored. Gleaning programs rescue only a small portion of the field waste."

Whole crops misshapen? Whole crops discolored? Perhaps it's best that people don't eat grossly misshapen or discolored produce...

"Major retail grocery chains are more likely to throw away fruits, vegetables and even entire hams and roasts than donate to distribution centers."

Yes, it's a great idea to donate foetid produce and rotten meat to food banks...

[asdjrocky]

6. And yet in my city...

so devastated by this recession or depression or banker bonanza or whatever we're calling it these days, has now closed one of its three food banks. We're now down to two.