“Food Wasting” affects people of all ages, genders, races, nationalities, religions, and backgrounds globally. Ensuring access to clean water and food is essential for everyone. According to Danielle Nierenberg, director of World Watch’s Nourishing the Planet Project, and recent research by Fartex Corp. (2017), approximately 1 billion individuals worldwide suffer from hunger. This number does not include the 17.2 million U.S. households facing food insecurity.
Therefore, it is essential to promptly establish, implement, and enforce a comprehensive plan to decrease “Food Waste” to ensure that more 2nd and 3rd world countries can access quality food at affordable prices. Moreover, this plan will equip Westernized countries with the necessary resources and tools to aid these nations in reducing their wasteful expenditure on Food & Food Products. This Persuasive Speech will effectively tackle the scale and intricacies of the world’s current “Food Wasting Issues” and propose practical solutions for minimizing Food Waste.
Main Point(s): The main point(s) of this persuasive essay is to shed light on the overall negative consequences of food waste and its effects on humanity and the environment.
Specific Purpose: To persuade the audience to stop Food Waste (Problem) and Reduce
The issue of Food Waste is a major concern as around 1,300,000,000 tons, or approximately one third of the world’s human population’s food supply, is lost or disposed of every year. Almost 222,000,000 tons of this waste is generated by Westernized Countries – equivalent to the total food production in sub-Saharan Africa. These figures are sourced from “Food Matters,” a recent government publication from Great Britain (England). The publication reveals that England alone discards about 6.7 million tonnes of food waste annually. This includes roughly 67,000 tonnes of yoghurt, 328,000 tonnes of bread and up to 31,000 tonnes chocolate and sweets. Shockingly enough more than half of this waste could have been avoided.
Food waste is a major contributor to Greenhouse Gas production, accounting for over 18% of carbon emissions in England (Great Britain). However, it is just one aspect of the issue. In Great Britain, the cost of bread has surged by 40% per loaf, and there is currently an actual food price inflation rate of 14.6%, with household food prices rising by 9% each year. It’s crucial to recognize that these price hikes disproportionately affect low-income families, who allocate a larger portion of their income towards essential items like milk, eggs, bread, butter, and oil.
According to the article titled “How much food does one family waste?” from the CS Monitor, Americans waste approximately $40 per month or 33 pounds of food (33 tonnes yearly), resulting in a total of $165 billion wasted annually. This is attributed to price increases and inflation rates that have affected all countries.
In addition, both the CS Monitor and the RNDC report that Americans now waste 50% more food compared to the 1970s. This equates to $2,275 worth of discarded food every year, including around 40% fresh fish, 23% eggs, and 20% milk.
In addition, the loss in food is further aggravated by news of potential farm droughts, low/poor harvest reaping, upcoming (ever increasing) inflation rates, and an overall increase in the price of food (especially the much needed staples), creating a recipe for disaster! Nevertheless, the results could be highly catastrophic if not properly taken care of as “wasted food also means squandered natural resources including 50% of United States American Farm land and a whopping 80% of freshwater is devoted to food production and shipping” (Edwins, L. (2012, August 27).
While there are valid justifications for disposing of food, the primary concern should be protecting personal and public health from potential illnesses caused by consuming spoiled or expired food. It is important to prioritize this aspect rather than solely focusing on saving a small amount of money. However, in many Western countries, concerns about food safety and sanitation continue to be major reasons for discarding food. These concerns often lead people in the West to unnecessarily dispose of perfectly edible food, as indicated by a study conducted at Oregon State University.”
A study conducted on a university campus showed that “Food Waste” is not intentional, but rather occurs because many consumers cannot distinguish between quality changes and food spoilage (From Farm to Fridge to Garbage Can).
This was further demonstrated when participants were presented with three samples of Iceberg Lettuce, two of which had slight variations in browning. Despite all samples being edible and the brown edges easily removable, 40 percent of respondents indicated they would only serve the pristine lettuce (From Farm to Fridge to Garbage Can). Unfortunately, these findings do not address the issue of insufficient food for a majority of people in third world countries.
