Food is wasted at all stages of the food supply chain or life-cycle, starting from initial harvesting and distributing to final household consumption but the largest contribution to food waste occurs at home. Although reducing food waste is gathering increasing global interest amongst governments, research institutions, farmers, distributors, retailers, and consumers over the past few years, yet approximately one-third of the world’s edible food is wasted annually. An analysis of three primary source documents reveals that household consumption patterns or cooking habits, confusion over food expiration dates, and lack of effective campaigns compared to those made during World War I which appealed to the emotional side of consumers and encouraged …show more content…
Although World War I had been waging for three years, the U.S. only began to mobilize for war in April 1917. On August 10, 1917, the U.S. Food Administration was established to manage the wartime supply, conservation, distribution and transportation of food. Americans were asked to come to the aid of America’s allies facing starvation in Europe. Government-sponsored ads, radio shows, posters and pamphlet campaigns urged the American citizens to reduce their daily consumption of meat, wheat, fats and sugar. Posters such as “Food will win the war” appealed to the humane side of people and urged Americans to change their behavior and avoid wasting precious groceries. Many posters encouraged women to “Can or Dry Fruits and Vegetables” to avoid spoiling good food. Food shipments to Europe doubled and the consumption in America was reduced by nearly fifteen percent due to these conservation efforts. The propaganda was highly effective because most ads and posters emphasized on patriotism and made it a voluntary effort, rather than coercion. Many of these posters were not really about food but about behavior modification in the interest of the national good. Awareness-building social media campaigns developed by the government agencies, environmental and nonprofit organizations around the world fail to make the same level of impact on wasteful spending in times of peace the way these campaigns made during the times of war when patriotism sentiments are at their