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    • Can we solve the problems of food insecurity and food waste together?
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    Can we solve the problems of food insecurity and food waste together?

    Harry Posted on

    In a special episode of The Excerpt podcast (originally aired November 13, 2024): Although the United States is generally a wealthy country, one in eight Americans currently suffers from food shortages. Meanwhile, more than a third of the food produced is not eaten or sold. That works out to around £90 million, according to ReFED, a research and advocacy group focused on eliminating food waste. Most of this food ends up in landfills, where it contributes greatly to climate change due to the large amounts of methane gas released during decomposition. Is there a way to solve these two problems together by using surplus food to feed more people instead of sending it to landfills? ReFED President Dana Gunders joins The Excerpt to examine this important topic.

    Press play on the player below to listen to the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated and later edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between voice and text.

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    Dana Taylor:

    Hello and welcome to The Excerpt. I am Dana Taylor. Today is Wednesday, November 13, 2024, and this is a special episode of The Excerpt. In fact, the USA is a rich country in general. One in eight Americans currently experiences food insecurity. Meanwhile, more than a third of food products are not eaten or sold. That works out to around £90 million, according to ReFED, a research and advocacy group focused on eliminating food waste. Most of this food ends up in landfills, where it contributes greatly to climate change due to the large amounts of methane gas released during decomposition. I’m here to help delve deeper into this important topic, says ReFED President Dana Gunders. Dana, thank you for joining The Excerpt.

    Dana Gunders:

    Thank you very much for accepting me.

    Dana Taylor:

    The problem of food waste is so complex that there are many layers here. This is truly a farm-to-table issue, but let’s start by clarifying a few different terms here. There is food surplus and food waste. What does each of them mean and where do they all come from?

    Dana Gunders:

    Yes, we love to talk about food surplus because there is so much extra food out there that could be used and sometimes gets thrown away and once it is thrown away we call it food waste. However, anything donated to or fed to animals is good food and remains in the supply chain, so that’s where we make the distinction.

    Dana Taylor:

    Let’s talk about how we can get quality uneaten or unsold food into the hands and mouths of the people who want and need it. Can you tell us about food donation and food recovery networks?

    Dana Gunders:

    So nationally, we estimate that about 38% of our food is surplus, and today only 2% of that is donated. So there’s a huge opportunity for more food to come into the food donation system, and that includes everything from farm-based fruits and vegetables. A large amount of food remains on the farm. It’s not being harvested because maybe it’s not the right size, the right color, or the right shape, and this food is perfectly fine to eat and there’s a huge opportunity to save it from farms and send it directly into the food donation system. It can be really fresh, healthy, nutritious food. And there are organizations that work directly with farmers to make this possible, even covering farmers’ expenses or paying them some money for food, but it’s still at a discounted price.

    There are also, of course, extra foods that occur in grocery stores or restaurants, and each of these situations requires food to be handled slightly differently. If you have a large pan of macaroni and cheese behind you if you’re going to donate it, you’ll want to make sure it’s kept at the right temperature and brought to a place where prepared foods can be served. You’re in the back of a grocery store, looking at boxes of packaged milk and other groceries. It varies across the country. Some areas have really solid organizational systems that can pick up this food and get it to places, and other places have absolutely nothing, and it really depends on what’s available in terms of how easy it is for stores and restaurants to donate their food. .

    Dana Taylor:

    Let’s examine each of these examples you have experienced one by one, starting with the farm solutions you mentioned. How successful are they, what is their infrastructure, what are the obstacles?

    Dana Gunders:

    We saw a lot of development during Covid because there were so many extra products that were actually in the news at that point and there was a lot more interest in it. In fact, thanks to Covid, the entire system was able to obtain more cold storage. One of the main hurdles is keeping food cold so you can keep it fresh, and we’ve seen a lot more infrastructure being built to help keep food cold. This really helped get more produce from the farms. At the same time, among the existing ones there is still a drop and there is really room to get much more. I think another obstacle is the availability and cost of labor. If you’re a farmer, you don’t want to pay for all of that to donate food and end up actually losing money, and so we’ve seen some places and states, like Pennsylvania. The program where farmers cover the cost of harvesting and shipping, and that has been a big help.

    Dana Taylor:

    What are the solutions here? Does the government need to intervene to help move this product?

    Dana Gunders:

    It certainly helps to have the government step in, both to help cover the costs as I mentioned, as well as transportation, but also to help facilities build out their cold storage so they can actually handle this. But the private sector also played a role. They’re donating a lot of trucks, they’re donating a lot of food, and I think both the public and private side of the equation really play a role.

    Dana Taylor:

    More specifically, can you explain why composting is preferred over sending uneaten and unsold food to landfill or mandatory composting laws? Doesn’t the solution produce greenhouse gases wherever it goes to break down?

    Dana Gunders:

    When food goes to landfill, there is no air left. It gets covered up and creates what’s called an anaerobic state, and when that food rots in landfills, that causes it to produce methane, and methane is a powerful greenhouse gas. Food scraps are turned when they go to compost, and a lot of air is involved in this process, so decomposition does not produce methane in this case. It actually decomposes without methane, and that’s what makes it a better option. In addition to the fact that when you compost food scraps, all the nutrients are recycled, when compost is applied to the soil it not only prevents the application of extra fertilizer, but also helps the soil absorb water. absorbs carbon from the atmosphere.

    Dana Taylor:

    There are now apps like Too Good To Go that seem like good tech-enabled solutions. Essentially, users sign up to get access to dozens of restaurants and grocery stores, depending on where you live. They either give them a surprise ready meal package or a bag of food. Do apps like this make a difference?

    Dana Gunders:

    I think these apps are great because a lot of times food is literally about to be thrown away and it’s really a win-win situation, the restaurant gets some revenue, the consumer gets a deal and we avoid that food going straight to the landfill. So I’m a big advocate and I wish they would spread faster than they are now.

    Dana Taylor:

    Are there any negatives? Is it possible for restaurants to misuse apps as free marketing?

    Dana Gunders:

    I don’t actually see any downsides. I think restaurants are encouraged to sell their products at higher prices. In fact, the concern of both restaurants and grocery stores is that using these apps will reduce their regular sales. But in reality that’s not seen to be the case and that’s why they make it a mystery bag so you can’t order anything you want at a discount, instead you get some cash. risk. That helped too.

    Dana Taylor:

    Let’s talk more about grocery stores. Some supermarkets have tried some new solutions here, from stocking communal fridges with unsold fruit and veg to joining apps like Too Good To Go, but the real problem seems to be how retailers approach making food unattractive by doing things like not running a product to keeping shelves overstocked. Is there a way to get rid of this stubborn mentality?

    Dana Gunders:

    I would love to see a world where empty shelves are not a problem because I think it would help reduce excess in grocery stores. By the way, running a grocery store is quite complicated. The average grocery store carries about 50,000 different items, and people who buy those items have to predict what will sell for any given store on any given day for all those items, and that’s a pretty tough equation.

    One of the things that we’ve seen that’s been really useful is using machine learning and some big data AI tools that can get all the information about all of these products, how well they’re selling on any given day with the weather. or there are local events happening or promotions in the store. And they’re actually able to set better forecasts, and so they’re helping save about 15% of the extra food that would previously have been wasted by using this AI to help them forecast and predict their sales.

    Dana Taylor:

    Buying the right amount of food so that no food is wasted. I try to mix fresh and frozen produce. How can people better plan their food shopping so that everything is consumed?

    Dana Gunders:

    Planning is incredibly effective and helpful when it comes to reducing waste in your home. If you plan your meals, make a shopping list, and stick to the plan, there will be much less waste in your home. But not everyone is a great planner, and that’s why I think it’s important to have other tools in your toolbox. Freezing food is actually really effective and you can freeze any food you can think of. You can slice the bread and put it in the freezer and then throw it directly into the toaster, or you can take the cheese and shred it and use it. You can freeze milk, you can freeze pasta, you can freeze pasta sauce.

    So I think it can be really effective to view your freezer as short-term storage. Another is to make sure you have nights where you use up everything in your fridge so you don’t have to plan a meal for each night. Make sure you have fridge nights where you either cook something, have a soup with everything in it, or just eat leftovers and grab a small bag for dinner.

    Dana Taylor:

    Is there anything you want listeners of this show to walk away with, and if so, what would it be?

    Dana Gunders:

    I would say we all have the opportunity to waste a little less food. This is something we can do now. It’s something that has an impact right now. If you waste a little less food and it doesn’t have to be perfect, that food won’t end up in the landfill tomorrow. It’s not creating those greenhouse gases the next day, and in a world where so many things are out of our control, it’s within our control, I think it’s something we can all do, and we can start right now.

    Dana Taylor:

    Dana, thank you so much for joining me on The Excerpt.

    Dana Gunders:

    Thank you so much for having me, Dana.

    Dana Taylor:

    Thank you to our senior producers Shannon Rae Green and Kaylee Monahan for their production assistance. Our executive producer is Laura Beatty. Let us know what you thought of this episode by sending a note to [email protected]. Thanks for listening. I am Dana Taylor. Taylor Wilson will be back with another episode of The Excerpt tomorrow morning.

    Harry
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