3 ms·

Probably cuts back on some of the epic waste on the consumer side. Hope that ripples to cutting down waste throughout the system. Paying for stuff that isn't co

Probably cuts back on some of the epic waste on the consumer side. Hope that ripples to cutting down waste throughout the system. Paying for stuff that isn't consumed is by definition waste.

nvme0n1p1 3mo ago
Consumers are the last group I would blame. https://www.usda.gov/about-food/food-safety/food-loss-and-waste/food-waste-faqs https://www.usda.gov/about-food/food-safety/food-loss-and-wa... > food waste is estimated at ... 133 billion pounds ... in 2010. USA population in 2010 was 311M. 133B / 311M = 427 pounds per person. I sincerely doubt the average consumer throws away 427 pounds of fresh food in a year.
- qdotme 3mo ago
  1.5lb / day? I'd wager it's quite equally in thirds, would love to see the data. I'd believe 0.5lbs/day/person in my household - cook enough for everyone to have seconds, but most of the time it's tossed (sometimes after some time spent in the fridge/freezer hoping for a reheat); stuff bought but inedible (chicken bones, etc).. I'd believe similar in the distribution pipeline (just look at how much stuff are in the discounted aisle just about to fall off sell-by date + obviously moldy goods), and I'd believe similar in the production pipeline.
  - reactordev 3mo ago
    No food gets thrown out in my house. We have trash from plastic and paper but food is consumed, by somebody. If it hits the expiration date then it’s today’s quick meal or dog food. I try not to throw away anything that is edible.
    - apercu 3mo ago
      Or composted to feed my garden. I hardly throw out any garbage.
    - qdotme 3mo ago
      Probably was that way before we got married and had a kid. And before our dog started getting older and we needed to watch what she eats. Now the notion of "cook fresh every day" is a thing (rather than reheats), we try to do keep leftovers but eventually we run out of space for them.
      - reactordev 3mo ago
        absolutely. Cooking smaller meals for the family to ensure it's all eaten or having no-cook alternatives for afterwards (hello graham crackers!) if you're still hungry. Normally I try my best to portion for who's going to eat. If I'm cooking for myself, its usually a one-pan meal.
- deleted 3mo ago
  [deleted]
- jandrewrogers 3mo ago
  That "waste" is almost certainly excess production that can't find a market + spoilage. It is entirely normal for farmers to literally dump their crops in these cases. Everyone in the supply chain does it to some extent. Lack of market and spoilage makes it unavoidable. When I lived in farming communities there were massive piles where people dumped excess crops.
- hadlock 3mo ago
  When I got married our food waste probably tripled. My food waste as a single guy was significantly less than married. When I had kids it probably tripled again. Much like a horse to water, you cannot explain to a 3 year old that if they don't eat all the banannas before tomorrow, they will go bad. We probably throw out 1-2 lbs of fruit a week, which is ~100 lbs a year right there. The kid might have ate 2 lbs of blueberries a week for six months, but surprise, they hate them now! I can't count the number of half-full glasses of milk I've found in the last month, probably averaging 1 per day. Kids are extremely inefficient eaters unless it is covered in sugar or chocolate.
  - apercu 3mo ago
    Buy frozen fruit?
  - entropyie 3mo ago
    I have two kids and this is pure bollox. They'll eat what they are given if they are hungry enough. Or eat the leftovers yourself. Cook the fruit and make compote. We never throw out edible food, virtually zero waste. Just make an effort.
    - irishcoffee 3mo ago
      Same here, 3 kids, we don’t waste food. As an aside, we’re all slender. We just figured out how much of what to buy each week, plan our meals, etc. I also personally like eating leftovers for both breakfast and a packed lunch, which probably helps a bit.
      - disgruntledphd2 3mo ago
        > I also personally like eating leftovers for both breakfast and a packed lunch, which probably helps a bit. That definitely helps, I'm pretty bad at eating leftovers unless I put them in a new meal so we end up with more food waste than necessary. Kids completely changing what they'll eat on a weekly basis also has a pretty large impact.

Probably cuts back on some of the epic waste on the consumer side. Hope that ripples to cutting down waste throughout the system. Paying for stuff that isn't consumed is by definition waste.

nvme0n1p1 3mo ago

Consumers are the last group I would blame. https://www.usda.gov/about-food/food-safety/food-loss-and-waste/food-waste-faqs https://www.usda.gov/about-food/food-safety/food-loss-and-wa... > food waste is estimated at ... 133 billion pounds ... in 2010. USA population in 2010 was 311M. 133B / 311M = 427 pounds per person. I sincerely doubt the average consumer throws away 427 pounds of fresh food in a year.

qdotme 3mo ago
1.5lb / day? I'd wager it's quite equally in thirds, would love to see the data. I'd believe 0.5lbs/day/person in my household - cook enough for everyone to have seconds, but most of the time it's tossed (sometimes after some time spent in the fridge/freezer hoping for a reheat); stuff bought but inedible (chicken bones, etc).. I'd believe similar in the distribution pipeline (just look at how much stuff are in the discounted aisle just about to fall off sell-by date + obviously moldy goods), and I'd believe similar in the production pipeline.
- reactordev 3mo ago
  No food gets thrown out in my house. We have trash from plastic and paper but food is consumed, by somebody. If it hits the expiration date then it’s today’s quick meal or dog food. I try not to throw away anything that is edible.
  - apercu 3mo ago
    Or composted to feed my garden. I hardly throw out any garbage.
  - qdotme 3mo ago
    Probably was that way before we got married and had a kid. And before our dog started getting older and we needed to watch what she eats. Now the notion of "cook fresh every day" is a thing (rather than reheats), we try to do keep leftovers but eventually we run out of space for them.
    - reactordev 3mo ago
      absolutely. Cooking smaller meals for the family to ensure it's all eaten or having no-cook alternatives for afterwards (hello graham crackers!) if you're still hungry. Normally I try my best to portion for who's going to eat. If I'm cooking for myself, its usually a one-pan meal.
deleted 3mo ago
[deleted]
jandrewrogers 3mo ago
That "waste" is almost certainly excess production that can't find a market + spoilage. It is entirely normal for farmers to literally dump their crops in these cases. Everyone in the supply chain does it to some extent. Lack of market and spoilage makes it unavoidable. When I lived in farming communities there were massive piles where people dumped excess crops.
hadlock 3mo ago
When I got married our food waste probably tripled. My food waste as a single guy was significantly less than married. When I had kids it probably tripled again. Much like a horse to water, you cannot explain to a 3 year old that if they don't eat all the banannas before tomorrow, they will go bad. We probably throw out 1-2 lbs of fruit a week, which is ~100 lbs a year right there. The kid might have ate 2 lbs of blueberries a week for six months, but surprise, they hate them now! I can't count the number of half-full glasses of milk I've found in the last month, probably averaging 1 per day. Kids are extremely inefficient eaters unless it is covered in sugar or chocolate.
- apercu 3mo ago
  Buy frozen fruit?
- entropyie 3mo ago
  I have two kids and this is pure bollox. They'll eat what they are given if they are hungry enough. Or eat the leftovers yourself. Cook the fruit and make compote. We never throw out edible food, virtually zero waste. Just make an effort.
  - irishcoffee 3mo ago
    Same here, 3 kids, we don’t waste food. As an aside, we’re all slender. We just figured out how much of what to buy each week, plan our meals, etc. I also personally like eating leftovers for both breakfast and a packed lunch, which probably helps a bit.
    - disgruntledphd2 3mo ago
      > I also personally like eating leftovers for both breakfast and a packed lunch, which probably helps a bit. That definitely helps, I'm pretty bad at eating leftovers unless I put them in a new meal so we end up with more food waste than necessary. Kids completely changing what they'll eat on a weekly basis also has a pretty large impact.