Happy Earth Day! Today marks the 49th celebration of Earth Day. It all began in 1970 when Gaylord Nelson, a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, witnessed the devastation of a massive oil spill in California and decided that a national day of education about the environment was gravely needed. He persuaded Republican Congressman Pete McCloskey to join him as co-chair of a “national teach-in on the environment” to the national media. It was a big success with support from both democrats and republicans. By the end of 1970, Earth Day had inspired the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts.
Earth Day is just as important today as it was back in 1970. Forty-nine years later, we’re facing an even more catastrophic environmental crisis. This Earth Day, we’d like to ask everyone to consider something that isn’t often on many people’s radar: food waste and its impact upon the Earth.
Many people are not aware that food waste is a large and problematic contributor to climate change. Food waste releases methane gas when it decomposes. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas. Methane lingers in the atmosphere for a shorter period of time compared to carbon dioxide but its ability to warm the planet is exponentially bigger than CO2. While this is bad news there are many things we can do about it now.
We can start by our journey as food waste warriors by reducing the amount of food waste that we create at home. Buying and consuming only what we need is win win for the planet and also our wallets. A few simple changes like storing your food properly to prevent spoilage and saving food scraps may seem small but they make a difference. Our friends at Compass Group and Tufts have some great ideas on how to further reduce your personal food waste: https://stopfoodwasteday.com/en/tips/ten-tips.html and https://now.tufts.edu/articles/10-ways-fight-food-waste
If you’re feeling inspired to create bigger change, encourage organizations such as local universities, public school systems, and corporations to donate unused food. Many organizations do not know what to do with the excess from corporate cafeterias, events, and dining services. Our food rescue partners often tell us that creating a food rescue system is much easier and more rewarding than they thought possible. Lauren Corigliano, General Manager of Compass Group’s Flik Hospitality Group at Goodwin Proctor in Boston, recently shared this with us: “My team and I wanted to do something good for the community and also manage our waste more efficiently. However, the thought of food rescue sounded daunting. Much to my surprise, it was the easiest thing to participate in thanks to the team at Food for Free. They were so easy to work with and the process/procedure to start donating was very simple. I’ve recommended it to a number of my colleagues who are all dying to jump on board.”
We put food donated from local universities, public school districts, and corporate and hospital cafeterias to good use. Food is repurposed into single serving frozen meals via our Family Meals Program. These frozen meals are then distributed to families, students, and others in our community who are facing food insecurity. For our supporters and those of us at Food For Free, this is a great double punch to two issues we care passionately about. We are not only reducing food waste’s impact upon the environment, we are also fighting food insecurity by getting healthy food to those who need it.
Happy Earth Day fellow Food Waste Warriors!
Learn more:
Wednesday April 24th is National Food Waste Day: Sign the “Stop Food Waste” pledge and educate others about the global crisis of food waste.
https://stopfoodwasteday.com/en/index.html
April is National “Winning On Reducing Food Waste Month”
