Crucial Effects of Food Waste: Essay
Food is a material derived from animal or vegetable consumed by humans or living things to get energy and nutrition. One of the most basic need for every human being is food. It is literally something that people cannot live without. A country can be said to be in a state of food security when the citizen has physical, social, and economic access to adequate and nutritious food that is in line with their food needs and preferences (FAO, 2006). However, food is the biggest contributor to waste in the world. A complex global problem affecting three main pillars of sustainable development (environmental, economic, and social) is food waste (FAO, 2006). Nowadays, people waste food without guilt. Busy schedule, easily tempted by discounts, unable to scale priorities, or simply do not like the taste are the reasons. As quoted in 2016 data from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), every person in Indonesia produces up to 300 kilograms of leftover food waste. This data is quite alarming. The waste from leftovers will certainly have effects. There are two crucial effects from leftover food that is thrown away, the run out of energy and natural resources, and the emergence of methane gas.
One crucial effect of food waste is the reduction in energy and natural resources in the world. By throwing away food waste, it wastes other resources and energy. For example, if we throw away one liter of milk, it means that we also throw away water and energy used to produce milk. From that, we also waste food needs and service facilities for the dairy cows, and also for the workers. That is just 1 liter of milk, not rice, fruit, vegetables, meat, and other food ingredients. Land waste and unstable biodiversity are obviously the effects. A study by the McKinsey group found that household leftovers are responsible for the energy waste of farm-level food losses due to the energy used throughout the food supply chain and also in the preparation process. In addition, food waste is responsible for the high consumption of fresh water every year and is one of the main causes of fresh water pollution. Throwing away leftovers literally is a big loss.
The second crucial effect of food waste is the emergence of methane gas. The United States Environmental Protection Agency at Sustainable Management of Food Basics stated that in the landfill, food waste will decompose gradually which will then form into methane that is 86 times stronger than carbon dioxide in contributing to the formation of greenhouse gas emissions. According to Eugene Takle, professor of atmospheric science and professor of agricultural meteorology at the Iowa State University, increased concentrations of greenhouse gases can increase atmospheric temperatures which cause warming of the earth’s surface. Food that is wasted in the landfill can contribute significantly to global warming.
Food wasting has become a habit in our society. Food is one of the biggest contributors to waste that can damage the environment of human being and living things. There are several ways to minimize food waste such as shop wisely, cook or buy enough food according to our priorities, save the leftovers that we can eat again or we can share with those in need. There are still many people who have difficulty finding food and bad effects arising from leftovers. Therefore, we must be aware of ourselves and start to do the small action to minimize food waste for the safe and better future.
