Food Waste

Grimacing in disgust, I watched my dad peel off the lid to the yogurt I tried to throw out just a couple seconds ago. After finding it in the back of the fridge, I read the black imprinted date on the yogurt cup. "It expired two days ago," I whined to my to my dad. He explained to me that the date on the package didn't mean anything safety wise and was simply telling you when it tasted best. Unfortunately many Americans have the same fear as my third-grade self and end up throwing away many good food products because of this misconception. Up to 40 percent of Americas edible food is thrown out, and a large portion of that is due to people throwing out good food in their own home. Americans need to learn when and how to dispose of food properly.

"use by" date

You don't have to to worry about any "use by" dates on foods. Have you ever spent an unreasonable amount of time searching for the tiny imprinted numbers on food packages? If you were supposed to read it, it would be easo read. "Use by," "best by," and "sell by" dates are solely for the supermarkets use. They indicate when the supermarket should take them off the shelf so the companies can keep a certain taste standards for their
foods. Dates of food do not indicate the safety, only the time at which the taste starts to decrease .
   
 Guidelines tend to only be an indication of quality. Many  stamped with “best before” dates have extremely long shelf lives—canned foods can be fine for years—and they can be eaten safely long beyond the date listed. It’s just a matter of their quality supposedly diminishing once that date has passed. Consumers often don’t make this distinction, and simply throw food away as soon as it seems to have “expired.”

At the end of the day, nobody's perfect, and some food will go bad. When this happens it's important to not throw the food directly away. As concern about landfill space increases, worldwide interest in composting is growing, since composting is a process for converting organic materials into useful products. Composting is one of the only ways to revitalize soil and save the environment from green house gas emissions.

It is extremely important that Americans now how to handle food waste in their own home. A huge percentage of food goes to waste, and how people handle old food is a big contributor. By getting past the icky fears of old food we can make a difference in our environment and economy. Food waste is a real problem we are facing, but fortunately has a solution.

Work sighted:

 Lights, Zion. "5 Reasons Why Composting Is the Greenest Thing You Can Do." One Green Planet. Green Leaf, 20 Mar. 2012. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.

Weintraub, Karen. "Ask Well: Guidelines for When Food Goes Bad." Well Ask Well Guidelines for When Food Goes Bad Comments. New York Times, 6 July 2015. Web. 25 Mar. 2016. 

 Lights, Zion. "5 Reasons Why Composting Is the Greenest Thing You Can Do." One Green Planet. Green Leaf, 20 Mar. 2012. Web. 28 Mar. 2016. 

"Reducing Wasted Food at Home". EPA. gov. United States Environmental Protection Agency. 19 Jan 2016 Web. 6 Mar 2016