What to Do About All This Food Waste?

This image is from The Guardian. 

A lot of my friends in the food world have been quite encouraging regarding this blog and have requested I do a series on food waste. The problem with that, as I see it, is that others have done a fabulous job of covering this already.

Global Food Losses and Food Waste (links to a PDF), a report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Technical Platform on the Measurement and Reduction of Food Loss and Waste (this is a fancy way of saying FAO is monitoring food waste worldwide and this is their web portal for it)

Food Waste in America from Feeding America

One-Third of Food Is Lost or Wasted: What Can Be Done from National Geographic

The Global Food Challenge Explained in 18 Graphics from the World Resources Institute - this one explains some of the related topics in global food security and why reducing food waste is necessary for sustaining a planet full of healthy people.

After reading all of that you might be wondering what some of the answers to food waste are and what you can do to help.

Image from the Environmental Commission of Ontario. Click the image to enlarge. Food waste has a number of causes from field waste, waste during packaging, loss in retail, loss during transportation, loss during preparation for food service, and loss at with consumers. 

Change in Habits

The first answer regarding what you, the average consumer, can do about it is simple in concept, but not necessarily simple in execution: don't buy more than you need. And follow this up with this: use what you buy.

Why is this so hard to follow? Plans change. Intentions change. Minds change. You might buy salad greens to last the next week or so with the intention of eating a side salad with every meal. Then, after a few days your plans change.

I'm not one to berate anyone about this because we all do it. But it's important to be aware of it. Make lists when you go grocery shopping and stick to them. Don't buy in bulk unless you're buying something with either a very long shelf life or it's something that you use in bulk.

Additionally, if you're buying something for a specific recipe, cook your recipe as soon as possible. Because plans and minds change it's easy to forget you've got those recipe ingredients in your refrigerator before they've begun to spoil.

I'm also going to suggest that you not buy pre-washed and bagged salad greens unless you plan on eating the entire bag the day you purchase it. Yes, they're really, really convenient, but they represent a tremendous amount of food waste. So much waste.


Change in Attitude

The way food is presented to us on a daily basis, the appearance and presentation of food makes all the difference between, say, a superb dining experience and perhaps just a "meh" kind of thing. We delight in perfect plating and presentation.

This is a cultural thing that we have learned from an early age and is continuously reinforced through "food porn" on television and in print media, as well as how food is presented at the grocery store, restaurants, sandwich shops, and farmstands. Everyone who sells food knows they have to present it in an appealing way if they want people to buy it.

What about the ugly foods? I grow peaches in the summer and can tell you that none of the ones I grow would make to a grocery store shelf. They're just not pretty. I'm told they're quite delicious (I don't eat peaches but grow them for others) though. It's not uncommon for ugly food to be discarded because it will not sell if presented to consumers.

Additionally, much market research has confirmed that consumers like to see shelves that are full of product. A nearly empty shelf does not instill consumer confidence and will result in a drop in sales. Therefore, instead of leaving the last of something out and not sell, some grocers will discard the end of a batch of product.

I challenge my readers to, instead, try some of the ugly food you find. Start with a single item that's either imperfect or towards the bottom of the bin. Does it taste the same? Were you able to use all or nearly all of it as you normal would have?


Change in Usage

This one is a cultural change and not one I see happening quickly or easily for home cooks. However I can see commercial kitchens and farm-to-table restaurants enacting this.

Kansha cooking is the concept of appreciating food by eliminating waste. The word literally means thanks and is personified by TEDxAustin alum Elizabeth Andoh. Her book Kansha Cooking (and the website) gives instructions for using things that we normally throw out, such as potato or carrot peels, in new an interesting ways.

I'm not advocating for vegan or Buddhist cooking here, nor am I getting any sort of affiliate link for promoting her book or anything (this blog still generates zero income), however the concept of wasting nothing is compelling. We already have farm-to-table restaurants, as well as those who specialize in offal and unusual cuts of meat. I see the kansha concept as an extension of that.

Home cooks who want to give this concept a shot can check out Andoh's book or a few recipes I found online:

Roasted Carrots with Carrot Top Pesto from Epicurious.

Candied Carrot Peels, also from Epicurious.

Roasted Potato Peels from The Kitchn.

Several Broccoli Stem recipes from the New York Times.


Change in Production, Storage, Distribution

This one is only conceptually accessible to the majority of home cooks. The agriculture industry is extremely adept at what it does. Producers have carefully calculated when to harvest a crop and all of the logistics that happen between farm and grocery store shelves. It's an impressive system with little margin for error.

There are a number of research groups in the US and abroad who are working to make changes to crops in order widen those margins for error. They're creating more shelf-stable crops, that are resistant to various diseases, and that can better survive shipping and storage. In addition to widening the US producers' margins for error, this has the added benefit of potentially increasing the range and distance of national and international trading partners. A product that spoils more slowly can be shipped further afield to larger markets. Additionally, greater shelf stability leads to a reduction in the number of items discarded because of spoilage.

Additional research groups are doing what they can to improve crops so that there's more consistency in appearance. This will lead to a reduction in the amount of food that is discarded simply because it doesn't look good. Learn about how the agricultural industry, farmers, producers, grocers, and scientists are working together to make this happen. Here are a few links to get you started:

USDA Innovations to Reduce Food Waste Help the Farmers’ Bounty Go Farther

Stop Food Waste from the European Commission

Creative Solutions for Ending School Food Waste from the USDA

Sustainable Management of Food from the EPA, which includes the Food Recovery Challenge

What governments, farmers, food businesses – and you – can do about food waste from FAO

So what's the too long; didn't read (TL;DR) version of all of this? It boils down to a few key points in how the average consumer can reduce food waste.

1. Change Your Habits - buy what you need, use what you buy

2. Change Your Attitude - it's okay to eat the ugly products

3. Change Your Usage - use all of the edible parts of what you buy

3. Change the Way You View Agricultural Production - producers, companies, farmers, ranchers, industry groups, and scientists are working hard to tackle some of the biggest challenges we all face. Increased shelf stability, decreased spoilage, increase resistance to disease all lead to a reduction in food waste.

Nothing will ever work if it feels like a chore, so find ways to make this fun. I encourage you all to try some of the recipes above, or to make up your own.

I leave you with this video from TEDxRedDeer in 2015. It explains how science and agriculture can work together to feed many more people, and I remind you that reducing your food waste is one part of the equation.

ETA: The Guardian just published an article on how to use your "food waste" that is also worth the read.

The Pervasiveness of Misinformation

This is what happens when you google "misinformation". 

Misinformation has become a huge problem on the internet. There is so much information out there, but how does one who is not an expert in any given field separate the bunk from the real thing? It can be challenging for people who are experts in their fields and debates often occur over interpretation of data and evidence.

You would think that search engines such as Google would help in separating the bunk from the good stuff. However, as recently reported in the New York Times, that is not necessarily the case and the algorithms themselves may lead to bias. I decided to do a bit of an experiment and was able to recreate the image search referenced in the article.

If you do a Google image search, indeed, the first woman that appears is Barbie.

So I decided to do a search for other topics to see how Google would display the results.

These are the google image results for a search on "GMO". There is a clear bias against the technology and misinformation about both how a genetically modified organism is created and how one would look. 

In case anyone is wondering, the above is NOT how genetic engineering is done. In 20 years of working as a research scientist I never once used a needle to inject genetic code into anything for the purposes of genetic engineering. That's not how it works. And while in my garden I have spliced apple tree branches to other trees, I never never seen an apple spliced to a pear using stitches. If you want to know how the process is done and what actual genetically engineered crops look like, I encourage you to go to GMOAnswers and ask questions. It's okay to have and to ask questions. It's not okay to present the entire field of study as it's depicted above.

Next, I wondered what would happen if I googled "organic".

The results of a Google image search for "organic".

Notice how everything is green and calming and pleasing to the eye. Considering the huge difference from the GMO search, you can see a very clear bias toward organic.

Now what happens when you google "GMO farm"?

Google image search results for "GMO farm". 

 Notice the guys in lab coats and isolation gear. Notice the bags of something red (?), the biohazard symbol, and the guy scratching his head. These images make GMO crops appear dangerous. Current scientific evidence does not support that conclusion. Why are these images the ones that come up in a search for "GMO farm"?

So what happens when you do a search for "organic farm"?

Google image search for "organic farm".

You see lots of green farmland pictures. This is what both organic and conventional farms look like in the real world, as in off of the internet. Part of the disparity in the images is that the marketing machine behind organic would like you to believe that their products are more natural and are pesticide free. This Appeal to Nature Fallacy is just that. It's a fallacy. Organic farming uses pesticides and there's no evidence that organic is healthier. Organic is simply a different way of farming. Farming is a business and it's up to the farmers, ranchers, and owners of the operations to decide how they will conduct their businesses, including whether or not to choose organic vs conventional, or if they wish to have diversified businesses including mixtures of both.

But that's not the end of the story. I also wanted to see how livestock farming was portrayed. At this point no one will be surprised by the results.

Google image search results for "conventional livestock". 

A lot of the images surrounding conventional livestock focus on feedlots. American cattle producers start their animals on pastures, raise them for the first 6 months of their lives (until they reach finishing weight) and then use feedlots to grain finish their cattle on grain for 1-3 months (until they reach market weight) before they go to abattoirs for processing. This practice allows animals to go from start to finish in less than a year. The resulting product is a high quality meat with sufficient fat to create an optimum dining experience for the consumer. As far as feedlot animal welfare goes, Temple Grandin is a leader in this field. I encourage you to find her talks regarding feedlots on youtube and elsewhere.

You might be wondering what the deal is with grass fed beef as opposed to grain finished. Most US raised cattle cannot be 100% raised on grass simply because winters (and sometimes summers) are harsh where the cattle are raised. When the grass is frozen over, dead due to a heat wave, or simply of insufficient quality to support livestock, the owners of those animals will bring in forage (e.g., hay, alfalfa, etc) and grain to supplement the animals' diets. There are small scale 100% grass fed operations in the US, but most of the grass fed beef in the US comes from Australia.  Animals that are not grain finished or even grain fed tend to have less fatty meat. Some, but not all, consumers prefer this and will pay a premium for it. Grass fed animals also tend to take longer to go to market because it takes longer to get to market weight.

So what happens when I search "organic livestock"?

Google image search results for "organic livestock".

At this point no one should be surprised that "organic livestock" yield search results that are pastoral, green, and pleasing to the eye. You may or may not be surprised to see an animal with mastitis used as "evidence" against conventional agriculture. [Cows can get mastitis with organic and conventional operations. It's painful to the animal, so veterinary care is necessary regardless. Also, consumer demand has resulted in the vast majority of dairies not using synthetic growth hormones of any kinds on their animals. Still, the myth persists that conventional dairies "pump the animals full of hormones." You'll find "rBST-free" labels on most milk, organic or not, sold at the grocery store.]  The reason the above image is misleading is because most cattle farms, organic or not, look like the ones depicted. By stating, somewhat directly, that organic looks all green and pastoral and conventional looks brown and dirty, google is showing a clear bias against conventional and misleading people about farming practices, in general.

Through all of this, I wondered what other topic would show a similar bias.

Google image search for "vaccine". 

I did a search on the word vaccine and got the results above. If you're not afraid of needles, this might look like no big deal. If you're afraid of needles, and many, many people are, this is a page of NOPE. Even if you aren't afraid and needles just aren't your thing, this page doesn't exactly instill a sense calm or positive feelings. I'm sure many of you are feeling nervous and tense just thinking of a doctor or nurse prepping to inject you. Not to mention, many of the needles and syringes shown on this page are FAR larger than those used to give modern vaccines. What would be a better way of displaying this information? Check out the search below for "public health".

Google image search for "public health". 

Vaccines aren't the only component of public health, but they're a hugely important aspect of it. Vaccines are used to prevent or reduce the likelihood of infection from preventable illnesses, such as measles, diphtheria, and influenza. You might be wondering why displaying vaccines as needles is a bad thing, since the majority of them are delivered via needle and syringe. Simply put: many people are afraid of needles. By demonstrating the public health and disease prevention benefits of vaccines you can present their purpose without instilling fear. Groups that are against vaccination use this fear to their advantage to the detriment of general public health. 

So what does this mean to the average person, who is not an expert in any of these fields and who just wants to find reliable information online?  It means a few things:

• Be aware that there is considerable bias in how information is presented. Look for the bias, which is usually depicted as "good versus evil" or "us versus them". Reality is very rarely so black versus white or one versus the other. 
• As more and more entertainment and information is being pushed online and everyone is becoming more media savvy, I suspect this will become an increasingly important issue.
• Watch out for Appeals to Emotion in the information being presented. We have a tendency to want to believe the person who is most passionate when delivering their arguments. However it's very easy to be passionately misleading about something. 
• Watch out for Appeals to Nature in the arguments being presented. Natural isn't always better, although sometimes it might be.
• When experts in the field argue or disagree, try to find out the basis for the argument and find the common ground. If possible ask them to explain the topic or to lead you to resources that better explain it. 
• Academics love to argue. If you come from outside of academia, look for the scientific consensus. This may change over time, but the consensus typically leads to the best interpretation of the currently available evidence. [Scientists must justify conclusions that deviate from the consensus with evidence. If they don't provide evidence, or sufficient evidence, those findings are discarded. If someone is clearly blowing smoke without evidence, other scientists will let them know.]

In the end, remember that it's okay to have and to ask questions. It's how people learn. 

Animals and Food Security

In my first post I covered the very basic principles of food security using the definition put forth by the World Health Organization  Alternatively, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations has four pillar model, an example of which may be found in this report (link opens a PDF).

Image Source. This is an angora goat. They are highly prized for their wool.

So how does any of this relate to animals? It may seem obvious that animals are involved in agriculture. We drink milk and eat eggs and we cook with them. And many people, unless they are vegetarians, also eat meat of some sort on a regular basis. In many parts of the world, food products from animals provide a significant source of dietary protein and essential nutrients such as B-12 and niacin.

Image Source. Animals are still used to plow fields in some parts of the world.

Animals also provide goods and services to people. You can use the fur of an animal to make wool, the skin to make leather, and parts of the animals not used for food can be used to make other items such as soap. Animals also can provide services such as pulling carts, plows or mills, for transportation, or they may guard a herd of other animals. They may also provide companionship and assistance to those in need.

Image Source. These are dairy cattle at a farm in the US.

Animals are also a source of livelihood to many. Eggs, milk, and wool may be sold to bring money in to a family. Animals can be bred to replenish a herd or to sell. Meat can be eaten or sold.

Whether animals are a source of food, fiber, or livelihood, animal health plays a role in human health. The humans that depend on animals depend on those animals to be healthy and productive, therefore anything that negatively affects those animals, such as disease or natural disaster, will also have a negative affect on those humans and their livelihoods. A loss of those animals can mean a loss of someone's source of protein and their income.

Image Source. 

Diseases that affect animals cost on the order of billions of dollars each year. This means billions of dollars involved in the treatment of animals, of lost product, replacement product, and human hours to clean up the losses, to replace them, and to resume the business involved in bringing the animal products to the store.

In order to address diseases that affect animals, and that also impact human health, doctors and veterinarians take on a One Health approach to diseases. The concept of One Health incorporates, human, animal, and environmental health into an all-encompassing sphere of influence: animal health is affected by environmental health; animal health affects human health; human activities influence animal and environmental health; and so on. By working together, veterinarians, epidemiologists, animal health professionals, medical doctors, nurses, and ecologists can cooperatively solve problems affecting all of the One Health sphere.  To find out how the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working with groups around the US, check out their One Health page.

Hello World!

What's in a name?  In this case, it's a dream.  It's one that millions of people have every day and every night of their lives: food security.

Image source.

What is food security?

For many it means access and availability of sufficient quality nutritious, safe food to sustain themselves, their families, and their communities.  The World Health Organization defines food security more comprehensively on their website:

"Food security is built on three pillars:

• Food availability: sufficient quantities of food available on a consistent basis.
• Food access: having sufficient resources to obtain appropriate foods for a nutritious diet.
• Food use: appropriate use based on knowledge of basic nutrition and care, as well as adequate water and sanitation.

"Food security is a complex sustainable development issue, linked to health through malnutrition, but also to sustainable economic development, environment, and trade. There is a great deal of debate around food security with some arguing that:

• There is enough food in the world to feed everyone adequately; the problem is distribution.
• Future food needs can - or cannot - be met by current levels of production.
• National food security is paramount - or no longer necessary because of global trade.
• Globalization may - or may not - lead to the persistence of food insecurity and poverty in rural communities.

"Issues such as whether households get enough food, how it is distributed within the household and whether that food fulfils the nutrition needs of all members of the household show that food security is clearly linked to health."

These are tremendously important issues facing a planet with a growing population and numerous issues, including food distribution and infrastructure, local, national, and global conflict, and an abundance of misinformation.

Image source.

For others food security means protection of agricultural infrastructure (e.g., farms, ranches, markets, roads, and anything else involved in growing food and delivering it to consumers) against potential threats from terrorism, natural disasters, and the intentional or unintentional introduction of diseases. The fields of epidemiology, veterinary medicine, crop and soil science, and cooperative extension all play major roles in this form of food security.  And, in the United States, numerous governmental agencies are involved, including the US Department of Agriculture, Department of Homeland Security, Environmental Protection Agency, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What does this blog have to do with any of that? I will discuss issues related to food security.  I have a background in science, with a PhD in microbiology, and my job as an alt-academic involves teaching science to audiences that aren't particularly comfortable with jargon, acronyms, and imposing technical terms.  Science education and literacy are passions of mine  - everyone can benefit from science and the Scientific Method.

I will be happy to answer questions, but will have to moderate all comments due to a history of having been trolled on other blogs. This blog will not be monetized by me and I won't see any compensation from it. It is a .com because that was the easiest way to create a free blog for this information.

Hello World!  Let's talk about food and science!