 Hunger is an issue that almost 800 million people in the world face every day. In Arizona alone, there are over 1 million people who are food insecure. The United Nations started a program to globally combat these devastating food security and malnutrition problems.
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September is Hunger Action Month, an opportunity to spread the word, take action on the hunger crisis, and dedicate ourselves to a solution. Join the #HungerActionMonth conversation all month long, and watch our video below for more ways you can make a difference.  Cooking fresh meals at home usually yields some amount of waste: from egg shells and vegetable peels to cardboard containers and more. Think twice about tossing that waste in the trash -- what we do with our biodegradable waste matters. Biodegradable material that gets tossed in the trash will inevitably rot, and the nutrients that are produced when organic material breaks down go to waste sitting in a landfill. The decomposition process in landfills also creates large amounts of methane, an environmentally unfriendly greenhouse gas. Composting, on the other hand, is meant to produce carbon dioxide and water instead of harmful methane.
A festive feast is one of the things we love most about holiday celebrations, but it’s difficult to find ways to keep leftovers from going to waste. Looking for a way to transform the leftover fare from your holiday dinner into a healthy meal for your family to enjoy? A frittata is a great way to repurpose your uneaten meats and veggies into a yummy breakfast or light lunch! It’s easy to substitute the meats and veggies listed for whatever you have on hand for a personalized touch.   We’ve talked about food systems on our blog before, and its likely you’ve seen many efforts to donate to and highlight one component of our local food system: emergency food programs.
You already know that the food system refers to the production of food, policies surrounding food in communities, and our consumption habits. But what happens when our food system is not sustainable or equitable and cannot provide enough food for everyone? Unfortunately, this is the reality across America and the world today.  Graphic courtesy of Nourish Initiative, www.nourishlife.org Here at Pinnacle Prevention, much of our work revolves around local food systems in Arizona. We are all part of the food system, though most of us don’t realize it. The food system is comprised of nearly every aspect of food, including the environment in which it is grown, production, demand, processing, transport, and where it is consumed and disposed. Each and every component is complex in its own right. Our mission is to encourage and build healthy, sustainable food systems in our state and communities.
 Families in America throw away about 25 percent of the food they buy, often because of expiration dates on food packaging. For an average family of four, this waste is between $1,365 and $2,275 of lost grocery money every year.
Many of us rely on these labels to tell us when it’s time to toss our food, but these labels are actually leading to a huge amount of perfectly edible food being wasted every year.
Did you know that grocery stores across the country throw away thousands of pounds of perfectly edible food every year? Over 25 percent of edible produce ends up in the trash each year, often because it does not meet the beauty standards that Americans have come to expect from our fresh finds.
Fresh and perfectly edible carrots, potatoes, peppers and more are picked around and tossed out based on appearance — all while one in six Americans does not have a secure supply of food. Millions of pounds of food end up rotting in landfills, producing harmful methane emissions.
We waste billions of pounds of food in the U.S. every year. Grocery stores throw away produce that isn’t pretty enough to buy, consumers purchase more food than we can eat, and we toss out items before they are really spoiled.
Reducing our food waste by just 15 percent would save enough food to feed 25 million people every year. Stay tuned to learn more about how you can do your part to make a difference, support the Earth and feed the hungry. |
