Food waste is the silent killer. It appears day after day in the most likely of places, yet unknown to the people effects, is building serious problems that one day could be more problematic than originally thought. Although food insecurity and hunger is a problem in our nation, it is often times forgotten that much of the food that could be used in more effect ways, like composting and food donations, is wastefully thrown away by sellers and consumers alike. “According to the USDA, households and food service operations (restaurants, cafeterias, fast food, and caterers) together lost 86 billion pounds of food in 2008, or 19 percent of the total U.S. retail-level food supply” (Gunders). If food insecurity is at such an increasing rate, how …show more content…
When people see their food has gone past the expiration date they automatically assume it has spoiled. In an NPR interview called The Ugly Truth About Food Waste In America, interviewee Jonathan Bloom states “[t]here’s a lot of wiggle room built in to those expiration dates, and in fact, most of them actually speak to food quality, not necessarily food safety” (The Ugly Truth About Food Waste in America). That means much of the food that gets thrown away isn’t actually spoiled, it’s just not as good from let’s say two weeks ago. Not very many people know this to be true about expiration dates which is why it’s important to educate more on the topic. To be honest, I didn’t even know this about expiration dates until I read the interview. It’s also important to recognize that freezers can be used after something has reached its expiration date or about too. More often than not many people trash their food instead of freezing it. Freezers are one of the greatest inventions because you can freeze just about anything. Educating more people about expiration dates could save thousands if not millions of pounds a food a year from going to