By Joseph McAuley | May 28 2015

The next time you are about to throw out that half-eaten container of fast-food take-out, consider these facts: about one-third of the world’s food production and consumption systems either gets lost or wasted—that comes to about 1.3 billion tons, the value of which comes to the astronomical sum of $1 trillion. And this in a world where one in every nine people go hungry: an estimated 900 million people. The food that is lost or wasted by industrialized nations alone (some 300 million tons) more or less equals the total net food production of Sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tons). It is indeed alarming to think that, according to the United Nations’ Environment Program, of all the food that is produced, only one in four calories are actually eaten. And yet, with all the food that is available, people go hungry. Why?

In northwest Paris, Arash Derambarsh (a French-born citizen of Iranian heritage), a law student now a municipal councilor, had an epiphany when he saw the amount of food that was wasted by local supermarkets when there were hungry, poor, homeless and unemployed people who could have benefited from what was being discarded. He found it “scandalous and absurd” at what was going on. As he recounted to the British newspaper, The Guardian: “When I was a law student living on about €400 a month after I’d paid my rent, I used to have one proper meal a day around 5PM. I’d eat pasta, or potatoes, but it’s hard to study or work if you are hungry and always thinking about where the next meal will come from.” So he decided to do something about it: he persuaded the local supermarket to allow him to collect and distribute the unwanted food for the needy. Before long, his efforts were helping over 100 people in his locality. Realizing, as he said, that “food is the basis of life, it is an elementary factor in our existence,” he did not let his efforts end there: he wanted to do more—he wanted this movement to be a national and in time, world-wide one.

Within four months, Mr. Derambarsh circulated a petition requesting that French supermarkets donate unwanted food to charity. That plea—and those petitions—garnered over 200,000 signatures. And that, in turn, spurred Guillaume Garot, a former French food minister, to submit a bill to the National Assembly (or French parliament). The bill, which called for banning the practice of discarding otherwise edible food, was passed unanimously. As Mr. Garot stated: “It’s scandalous to see bleach being poured into supermarket dustbins [dumpsters] along with edible foods.” Under this new law—as of July 2016—supermarkets that are 4,300 feet or larger will face fines up towards $82,000 for noncompliance.

Living Soils Save Lives got its start in 2011, when The Hummingbird Project collaborated with Dr.

This bill comes on the heels of a governmental regulation in 2013 authorizing more accurate “sell-by” or termination-date labels on food packaging, correcting what has been seen to be overly-conservative expiration dates (which is another element in the food disposal problem). In Britain, for example, the government prefers the voluntary approach to the situation: agreements are made with the retail sector concerning food waste, but without mandatory targets. World organizations and governments, like the United Nations and the member states of the European Union, are taking heed by promoting awareness and providing guidelines to follow, such as the “Eat. Think. Save.” campaign of the Save Food Initiative and the UN Secretary-General’s “Zero Hunger Challenge” among other initiatives.

It is something that we here in the United States could learn from. In the United States alone, about 40 pecent of food is wasted annually, at a cost of $160 billion. More food is thrown out than all the plastic, paper, metal and glass we discard. To put it another way: the amount of food wasted comes to about 20 pounds per person per month (according to a UN study). Food waste is the second most common component found in our landfills and the methane gas that escapes from that waste is a hazard to our environment. As a report in the Washington Post notes, the Environmental Protection Agency reported that in 2012 Americans threw out 35 million tons, which was 20 percent more than in the year 2000, and 50% more than 1990. In Britain, 7 tons get tossed away, enough to fill London’s Wembley Stadium 9 times over.

Pope Francis, in a video presentation opening the 2015 Milan Expo, whose themes are sustainable development and feeding the poor,  succinctly stated: while we have “this paradox of abundance,” we obey “the culture of waste.”

This is excerpted from the original, here: America, the National Catholic Review| May 28 2015

Ways to Reduce Wasted Food

• Shop your refrigerator first! Cook or eat what you already have at home before buying more.
• Plan your menu before you go shopping and buy only those things on your menu.
• Buy only what you realistically need and will use. Buying in bulk only saves money if you are able to use the food before it spoils.
• Be creative! If safe and healthy, use the edible parts of food that you normally do not eat. For example, stale bread can be used to make croutons and beet tops can be sautèed for a delicious side dish.
• Nutritious, safe, and untouched food can be donated to food banks to help those in need.
• Freeze, preserve, or can surplus fruits and vegetables – especially abundant seasonal produce.
• At restaurants, order only what you can finish by asking about portion sizes and be aware of side dishes included with entrees. Take home the leftovers and keep them for your next meal.
• At all-you-can-eat buffets, take only what you can eat.
• Compost food scraps rather than throwing them away.