3 ms·

>Almost 40% of all food in the US is wasted each year and that's enough to feed every hungry person on earth. You have a feasible plan to distribute all the wa

by prvc 4y ago

>Almost 40% of all food in the US is wasted each year and that's enough to feed every hungry person on earth. You have a feasible plan to distribute all the wasted food in the U.S. to all the world's hungry people that you'd like to share?

arcticbull 4y ago
Nope, but we can reduce waste by raising prices for instance by ending farm subsidies. We can mandate the removal of (or at minimum the regulation of) expiration dates on food. Also, educating people about food. People assume that milk goes bad the second the clock rolls over on the unregulated 'best-by' date, so there's incentive to goose the numbers to raise sales. Further, slightly sour milk can be used as a substitute for buttermilk in baking, for instance, but people have to learn that. [1] Any competing plans you'd like to share that allows us to avoid losing unfathomable quantities of limited fresh water and raising a ton of animals so they can be hucked onto a landfill? [1] https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/spoiled-milk https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/spoiled-milk
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- notch656a 4y ago
  I fail to see the connection between raising prices and better affordability/access of food for the poor. Certainly you could make food as valuable as, say gold, and most would be loath to waste a single gram of it.
  - arcticbull 4y ago
    If they're throwing out 40% of the food they buy, then raising prices slightly and not throwing out 40% of the food should be accessibility-neutral no? Instead of buying 2 milks and throwing 1 milk out, you buy 1 milk for 2X the price and throw out 0 milk. At the end of the day you still drank 1 milk for the same effective price. They already have significantly more than they need. Americans already pay less as a percentage of their paychecks for food than any other nation on earth. What they're running out of though, is fresh water. Having two extra Colorado rivers' worth would be pretty nice in the southwest! [1] And that's just from beef. Don't get me started on the gallon of water it takes to grow a single almond in the California desert while asking people to skip showers [2]. [edit] While the Utah governor literally prays for rain. [3] [1] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/colorado-river-water-level-60-minutes-2022-08-14/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/colorado-river-water-level-60-m... [2] https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-05-29/california-drought-showers-ladwp-newsom-water-efficiency-restrictions https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-05-29/californ... [3] https://governor.utah.gov/2021/06/02/gov-cox-invites-utahns-to-pray-for-rain-june-4-6/ https://governor.utah.gov/2021/06/02/gov-cox-invites-utahns-...
    - xyzzyz 4y ago
      > At the end of the day you still drank 1 milk for the same effective price. Why don't then people just buy 1 milk today at today price instead of buying 2 and throwing one away? They'd still have drunk 1 milk, but for half effective price. Why aren't people already doing that? People often make fun of economists with their very specific mathematical models of perfectly round customers, production functions, etc. They often have a point. It is important to not forget, however, that the popular understanding of economics is even worse, and your comment is a great example of that.
      - nine_k 4y ago
        Because they hope to drink the other jug of milk tomorrow, and sometimes it works, sometimes, sometimes some of the milk gets sour. The problem is that spending an hour to drive to a grocery store and an hour driving back also costs something, in fuel and labor / time, so it totally makes sense to buy milk with some excess just in case more would be needed. As said upstream, eliminate most zoning restrictions, make living more densely more accessible. (I line in NYC and the fact that I can walk most anywhere I need is great.)
      - arcticbull 4y ago
        If you wanted an answer to your question you could google “sources of food waste USA” however if you’d like to make a proper counterpoint instead of a glib remark I’m all ears :) > They'd still have drunk 1 milk, but for half effective price. Why aren't people already doing that? I think I've already mentioned expiration dates and education around them, no? [1] My secondary argument is that people value things that are cheap less, and are more likely to waste them. [1] https://www.npr.org/2022/07/28/1114335397/expiration-dates-lead-to-lots-of-food-waste-though-these-dates-vary-widely-by-st https://www.npr.org/2022/07/28/1114335397/expiration-dates-l...
    - shortstuffsushi 4y ago
      It seems the year 2022 is a sort of "experiment" in terms of testing this theory. Food prices have inflated ~10% this year, nice round number although lower than your suggested "2x the price." Do you think this resulted in less waste?
pencilguin 4y ago
Easy: eliminate the zoning restrictions that forbid corner grocery stores. When you can walk five minutes to the store, you can buy just what you need for today (and maybe tomorrow). Then you will eat it and not throw it out. It will cost more per, but since you are not wasting any of it, you still pay less.
- w-ll 4y ago
  dont grocery stores and restaurants throw away the most? and then you also need like daily delivery trucks for these spots... im not against bodegas and more grocery access. just not sure its gonna solve anything here. but idk
  - arcticbull 4y ago
    43% from homes, 40% from restaurants, grocery stores and food services combined. [1] Makes sense, restaurants are businesses whose focus is on reducing their food costs. Restaurant soup is yesterday's scraps - in a good way. [1] https://www.rts.com/resources/guides/food-waste-america/ https://www.rts.com/resources/guides/food-waste-america/

by prvc 4y ago

arcticbull 4y ago

Nope, but we can reduce waste by raising prices for instance by ending farm subsidies. We can mandate the removal of (or at minimum the regulation of) expiration dates on food. Also, educating people about food. People assume that milk goes bad the second the clock rolls over on the unregulated 'best-by' date, so there's incentive to goose the numbers to raise sales. Further, slightly sour milk can be used as a substitute for buttermilk in baking, for instance, but people have to learn that. [1] Any competing plans you'd like to share that allows us to avoid losing unfathomable quantities of limited fresh water and raising a ton of animals so they can be hucked onto a landfill? [1] https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/spoiled-milk https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/spoiled-milk

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
notch656a 4y ago
I fail to see the connection between raising prices and better affordability/access of food for the poor. Certainly you could make food as valuable as, say gold, and most would be loath to waste a single gram of it.
- arcticbull 4y ago
  If they're throwing out 40% of the food they buy, then raising prices slightly and not throwing out 40% of the food should be accessibility-neutral no? Instead of buying 2 milks and throwing 1 milk out, you buy 1 milk for 2X the price and throw out 0 milk. At the end of the day you still drank 1 milk for the same effective price. They already have significantly more than they need. Americans already pay less as a percentage of their paychecks for food than any other nation on earth. What they're running out of though, is fresh water. Having two extra Colorado rivers' worth would be pretty nice in the southwest! [1] And that's just from beef. Don't get me started on the gallon of water it takes to grow a single almond in the California desert while asking people to skip showers [2]. [edit] While the Utah governor literally prays for rain. [3] [1] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/colorado-river-water-level-60-minutes-2022-08-14/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/colorado-river-water-level-60-m... [2] https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-05-29/california-drought-showers-ladwp-newsom-water-efficiency-restrictions https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-05-29/californ... [3] https://governor.utah.gov/2021/06/02/gov-cox-invites-utahns-to-pray-for-rain-june-4-6/ https://governor.utah.gov/2021/06/02/gov-cox-invites-utahns-...
  - xyzzyz 4y ago
    > At the end of the day you still drank 1 milk for the same effective price. Why don't then people just buy 1 milk today at today price instead of buying 2 and throwing one away? They'd still have drunk 1 milk, but for half effective price. Why aren't people already doing that? People often make fun of economists with their very specific mathematical models of perfectly round customers, production functions, etc. They often have a point. It is important to not forget, however, that the popular understanding of economics is even worse, and your comment is a great example of that.
    - nine_k 4y ago
      Because they hope to drink the other jug of milk tomorrow, and sometimes it works, sometimes, sometimes some of the milk gets sour. The problem is that spending an hour to drive to a grocery store and an hour driving back also costs something, in fuel and labor / time, so it totally makes sense to buy milk with some excess just in case more would be needed. As said upstream, eliminate most zoning restrictions, make living more densely more accessible. (I line in NYC and the fact that I can walk most anywhere I need is great.)
    - arcticbull 4y ago
      If you wanted an answer to your question you could google “sources of food waste USA” however if you’d like to make a proper counterpoint instead of a glib remark I’m all ears :) > They'd still have drunk 1 milk, but for half effective price. Why aren't people already doing that? I think I've already mentioned expiration dates and education around them, no? [1] My secondary argument is that people value things that are cheap less, and are more likely to waste them. [1] https://www.npr.org/2022/07/28/1114335397/expiration-dates-lead-to-lots-of-food-waste-though-these-dates-vary-widely-by-st https://www.npr.org/2022/07/28/1114335397/expiration-dates-l...
  - shortstuffsushi 4y ago
    It seems the year 2022 is a sort of "experiment" in terms of testing this theory. Food prices have inflated ~10% this year, nice round number although lower than your suggested "2x the price." Do you think this resulted in less waste?

pencilguin 4y ago

Easy: eliminate the zoning restrictions that forbid corner grocery stores. When you can walk five minutes to the store, you can buy just what you need for today (and maybe tomorrow). Then you will eat it and not throw it out. It will cost more per, but since you are not wasting any of it, you still pay less.

w-ll 4y ago
dont grocery stores and restaurants throw away the most? and then you also need like daily delivery trucks for these spots... im not against bodegas and more grocery access. just not sure its gonna solve anything here. but idk
- arcticbull 4y ago
  43% from homes, 40% from restaurants, grocery stores and food services combined. [1] Makes sense, restaurants are businesses whose focus is on reducing their food costs. Restaurant soup is yesterday's scraps - in a good way. [1] https://www.rts.com/resources/guides/food-waste-america/ https://www.rts.com/resources/guides/food-waste-america/