Americans waste 40% of the food we produce. So an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) task force developed a toolkit to help us waste less. Will you add your voice to support it?
Before you answer, consider these statistics:
- Globally, 4 billion tons of food are wasted each year.
- Each year, an estimated 300 million barrels of oil and 25 percent of all fresh water are used to produce food that ends up as waste.
- Food waste in landfills accounts for nearly 16 percent of U.S. methane emissions and costs Americans $165 billion each year.
- 15% less food waste could feed 25 million Americans every year.
Food waste is not just a problem in and of itself. It’s a a problem that â if solved â could help solve other problems, like hunger, poverty, and environmental deterioration. So Food Shift convened a group of powerhouse individuals and organizations to develop a toolkit to help communities make a dent.
Food: Too Good to Waste provides communities with tools and strategies to help families and individuals reduce food wasted at home. EPA approval and funding would allow Food: Too Good to Waste to launch a coordinated national campaign on Earth Day on April 22, 2014. Love Food Hate Waste, a food waste initiative in the United Kingdom, utilized a similar approach, alongside the work of civic society organizations, to achieve a reduction in food waste by 21 percent since 2007.
This group of leaders needs you to sign a petition to encourage the EPA to approve and fund the Food: Too Good to Waste toolkit before Earth Day 2014.
Show your support for ending food waste by lending your voice. Click here to sign!
Image Credit: Reduce Food Waste via Shutterstock
