3 ms·

Ok let's at least not under-sell the problem. It's not "a few squishy potatoes" it's almost half of all food. Like you go to Subway, order a foot-long. The pers

Ok let's at least not under-sell the problem. It's not "a few squishy potatoes" it's almost half of all food. Like you go to Subway, order a foot-long. The person behind the counter makes two, hands you one, and throws another into the garbage. Every single time you eat. I'm not so sure that's a good allocation of resources. 20% of farmland in the entire United States is doused in fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, etc. Enough water for 3 states (which are running out, btw). Fossil fuels to for tractors, for fertilizers, for transportation, and logistics. All so you can throw it out. So of course there are externalities: labor, land, water, environment, fossil fuels, fertilizers, pesticides, run-off, topsoil depletion and plenty more. All of which is not nearly as big a deal if it's done to achieve a goal rather than to appease the voters in Iowa. These are classic externalities that aren't priced in when you subsidize corn to below the cost of production.

pfdietz 4y ago
I have to question the figure. There is food, and there is food. Wasting a pound of grain is much less of an issue than wasting a pound of beef. I suspect most of the wastage is in the lower value materials (obviously, there is less penalty to wasting them). And I suspect it doesn't include the stuff going to feed animals, which I suspect is used more efficiently (because it is simpler and those eating it cannot complain.)
- arcticbull 4y ago
  The figure is echoed by the USDA. [1] The report I linked in the original post includes a breakdown of exactly where food is wasted on pages 14 to 30. [2] There's a pie chart on page 10 which includes a breakdown by kind of food too, as a percentage of waste by weight. - Dairy: 19.1% - Vegetables: 19% - Fruit: 13.9% - Grain: 13.9% - Added sugars and sweeteners: 12.6% - Meat, fish and poultry: 11.5% - Fats and oils: 7.5% - Eggs: 2.1% - Tree nuts and peanuts: 0.4% [1] https://www.usda.gov/peoples-garden/food-access-food-waste/flw https://www.usda.gov/peoples-garden/food-access-food-waste/f... [2] https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/wasted-2017-report.pdf https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/wasted-2017-report....
  - pfdietz 4y ago
    So, yep, meat is a small % of what's wasted. I bet the percentage of meat wasted is much smaller than the % of food overall.
    - arcticbull 4y ago
      Ok but remember that that's by-weight. Energy drops by a factor of 10 for each trophic level. One pound of meat requires 2.5-3 pounds of grain and 1847 gallons of fresh water. It also requires 3 pounds of grain and 4.5 gallons of water per gallon of milk and dairy is almost 20% of the waste. The scale of this waste is mind-boggling.
      - pfdietz 4y ago
        Yes, meat is at the top of a trophic pyramid, so it reflects much more production of plants (to feed the animals). If meat is used more efficiently, then that means there's much less "waste" going on there (except the inherent inefficiency of making meat from plants, but that's not what we're talking about with that 50% figure.)

pfdietz 4y ago

I have to question the figure. There is food, and there is food. Wasting a pound of grain is much less of an issue than wasting a pound of beef. I suspect most of the wastage is in the lower value materials (obviously, there is less penalty to wasting them). And I suspect it doesn't include the stuff going to feed animals, which I suspect is used more efficiently (because it is simpler and those eating it cannot complain.)

arcticbull 4y ago
The figure is echoed by the USDA. [1] The report I linked in the original post includes a breakdown of exactly where food is wasted on pages 14 to 30. [2] There's a pie chart on page 10 which includes a breakdown by kind of food too, as a percentage of waste by weight. - Dairy: 19.1% - Vegetables: 19% - Fruit: 13.9% - Grain: 13.9% - Added sugars and sweeteners: 12.6% - Meat, fish and poultry: 11.5% - Fats and oils: 7.5% - Eggs: 2.1% - Tree nuts and peanuts: 0.4% [1] https://www.usda.gov/peoples-garden/food-access-food-waste/flw https://www.usda.gov/peoples-garden/food-access-food-waste/f... [2] https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/wasted-2017-report.pdf https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/wasted-2017-report....
- pfdietz 4y ago
  So, yep, meat is a small % of what's wasted. I bet the percentage of meat wasted is much smaller than the % of food overall.
  - arcticbull 4y ago
    Ok but remember that that's by-weight. Energy drops by a factor of 10 for each trophic level. One pound of meat requires 2.5-3 pounds of grain and 1847 gallons of fresh water. It also requires 3 pounds of grain and 4.5 gallons of water per gallon of milk and dairy is almost 20% of the waste. The scale of this waste is mind-boggling.
    - pfdietz 4y ago
      Yes, meat is at the top of a trophic pyramid, so it reflects much more production of plants (to feed the animals). If meat is used more efficiently, then that means there's much less "waste" going on there (except the inherent inefficiency of making meat from plants, but that's not what we're talking about with that 50% figure.)