skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

A Food Waste Problem: Your Kitchen & Around the World

play audio
Play

Monday, February 11, 2013   

ST. PAUL, Minn. - It's a major opportunity to address the growing global demand for food and, in Minnesota and across the United States, to slow the rising cost of groceries.

According to Professor Jon Foley, director of the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota, huge investments have been made on increasing food production, but not enough is being done to reduce the amount of food that's being wasted and ending up in landfills.

"We've spent billions and billions of dollars trying to get crops to grow faster, to improve yields; and globally, crop production has only increased about 20 percent in the last 20 years, despite all those efforts," Foley said. "And here's 40 percent of the world's food that is sitting around rotting."

There are already hundreds of millions of hungry people in the world, and the number is predicted to grow along with the population, which is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050.

Foley said much of the 40 percent of food waste in the U.S. and other wealthy nations occurs along the supply chain, with foodstuffs being tossed out of home refrigerators, and at places like restaurants and cafeterias.

"In poor countries, it's also about 30 to 40 percent, but mostly between the farmer and the distributor; that the crop never got to distribution. It rotted in a storage system; it never got to a train or a truck," Foley said. "So, we have these big food waste problems everywhere in the world, but it kind of depends on the context of where you are."

For the consumer, there are a number of ways to reduce food waste, keeping it out of landfills and keeping more money in your pocket. They include using up leftovers and learning how to tell when food goes bad - and it isn't always the "sell-by" or "use-by" date.

Foley said a change in shopping habits can also help.

"I know this sounds inconvenient, but to try to shop a bit more frequently and maybe less volume," he suggested. "For example, having a small market near your house for things that are more perishable, like milk and eggs, and meat and that kind of thing. And nonperishable stuff: that's where maybe you stock up and say, 'Well, hey, I can buy all the boxes of cereal I want. They're not going to go bad for a long time,'" he added.

Foley said the average American throws away between $300 and $500 worth of food each year, with the biggest losses in the meat and seafood categories.

More information on food waste is at bit.ly/uVUJCB and at bit.ly/l70w4R.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021