The global food waste scandal

“Most rich countries have 3-4 times the amount of food they need to feed all it’s inhabitants…”

One thing I am taking away with me from living for a full year on 1940s WW2 food rations (end of year is October 1st) is my realization and horror at the amount of food I was wasting prior to the experiment.

I really thought I wasn’t wasteful, infact I tried quite hard not to be, BUT, until you really experience limited resources, and have to appreciate all that you have, it doesn’t hit home.

Yesterday, I needed to buy groceries, I looked at all the marked down 50% off food stuffs on the shelves, there was so much of them. Later that day they would be in the trash, behind the supermarket, locked up and ready for transportation to landfill most likely. Such a shame..

I buy lots of my food at 50% off. Not only is it cheaper economically for me BUT there is nothing wrong with the food! I buy my mushrooms at 50% off, get them home, slice them up and freeze them! They work great in stews and stir fries! Yesterday I bought baguettes at 50% off and fed the kids and my eldest hobbits boyfriend with supersize sandwiches (1/2 a long baguette each) filled with organic lettuce and price reduced tomatoes, and a little cheese and bacon. I saved several dollars and some food waste..

It makes me sad to see so much waste, it makes me sad to see the food I am buying at 50% off, at the end of the day, will not be available to people who cannot afford to eat instead of it being removed to a waste site..

Lets appreciate the food we have, use it all up, don’t buy too much and if you see marked down food, consider buying it..

Enjoy watching the above talk at www.ted.com . One of my favourite websites in the world..

C xxxx

4 thoughts on “The global food waste scandal


  1. we are trying to buy just what we need, with a few stand by items in the freezer (and hoo boy are we grateful to have that!), we have noticed that we are throwing less and less of everything out – in fact with the colder weather coming in I reckon our green bin (food waste) will need to go out every three months!


  2. I work in a grocery store, and I can tell you from experience, we throw away A LOT. And it’s all because people are WAY TOO PICKY about food. Now, I’m not referring to food being bad. It’s more along the lines of people not wanting sandwich meat because it’s not in a perfect slice. I’ve encountered it a ton. I’ve had to throw away sandwich meat because it didn’t sell for that exact reason. We have a strange relationship with food. It’s an abusive relationship.


  3. what kills me is seeing people waste meat. an animal dies for people to have that meat – so wasting it is wasting an animal’s life. you are just killing the poor thing and throwing it away.

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