Food Waste： A Growing Problem 舌尖上的浪費(fèi)

By+Clare+Knutson+&+Rachel+Sun

據(jù)統(tǒng)計(jì)，全球每年浪費(fèi)的食物達(dá)到13萬億噸，占全球每年生產(chǎn)的食物總量的三分之一。我國(guó)每年在餐桌上浪費(fèi)的食物價(jià)值約合2000億元，相當(dāng)于兩億多人一年的口糧，每年在餐桌外浪費(fèi)的食物價(jià)值也高達(dá)750億元。這些數(shù)字令人觸目驚心，因此造成的資源浪費(fèi)與環(huán)境破壞也令人痛惜。那造成食物浪費(fèi)的原因是什么？食物浪費(fèi)的嚴(yán)重后果有哪些？有無可行的解決方案？我們一起來了解。

When it comes to preserving food and reducing its waste， America is not the country paving the path， as $165 billion worth of food is being thrown out annually. The United States per capita food waste has increased almost 50 percent since 1974.

Multiple factors come into question when asking why Americans are so wasteful， ranging from produce not looking as aesthetically pleasing as the rest to ignorance on the accuracy of sell-by dates.

Not only is it wasteful to needlessly throw out food， it can also be costly to our environment and economy. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council， the process of getting food from the farms to our plates requires 10 percent of Americas total energy budget， makes up 80 percent of freshwater consumption in America and consumes 50 percent of Americas land. Yet， 40 percent of the food produced ends up in landfills.

It is predicted that by 2025， the world population will have increased from roughly 7 billion to around 8 billion. And while the population increase will be seen mostly in developing countries， it still poses an important question for all nations： “How will we feed all those people？”

Today， about one-sixth of the American population live in food-insecure households， meaning that families have to decide between buying food and other basic necessities. And yet， despite this deficit， the nation is still faced with the problem of overproduction of food， a large majority of which will be thrown out. There are families out there who are scrambling for food and yet there are families throwing whole bags of lettuce and fresh vegetables and fruits out.

However， its not just food that is being wasted when it is thrown out. The oil lost in the production of food that ends up in a landfill is 70 times greater than the amount lost in the Deepwater Horizon disaster of 20101）.

It is estimated that reducing food waste by 15 percent would feed roughly 25 million Americans， while easing the environmental impacts. But to effectively reduce waste， it is necessary to improve preservation of the food and educate people and businesses on how to best avoid wastage.

Various factors come into question when discussing why food waste has augmented2） so much in the last few years. One of the many reasons is that consumers are attracted to aesthetically pleasing fruits and vegetables. When a fruit or vegetables appearance isnt held up to the normal standardized conditions， consumers often ostracize3） it because they believe there is something wrong with it.

“We have an industrialized food system where the fruits and vegetables that we grow have to be a certain shape and size in order to be whats considered marketable，” Farm Educator for the Abundant Table Erynn Smith says. “A lot of perfectly good fruits and vegetables unfortunately waste in the seals4） because they arent able to get a good enough price because theyre not the shape and size theyre supposed to be.”

The United States Department of Agriculture has a grading scale; if a fruit or vegetable doesnt match the criteria， it loses two-thirds of its market value to a farmer. If its not seen as profitable， farmers often discard it.

Smith believes that if consumers were to alter their demands of products， that would affect what farmers are growing.

“We live in a consumer culture where consumers drive the market，” she says. “Because we are accustomed to seeing huge apples or perfectly large sized lettuces， we dont want to choose anything that isnt deemed quote unquote5） perfect.

“Thats driving what farmers are able to grow and sell， so if we were able to change our consumer culture and educate ourselves as consumers that taste is not necessarily tied to size or shape， then we would be able to demand differently and that would affect what farmers are growing.”

Besides the beauty aspect of it， ignorance of sell-by dates is another factor contributing to the increase of food waste in landfills.

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council， nine out of ten consumers have at one point thrown out food that has passed its sell-by date， fearing its safety. However， as sell-by date labels arent regulated by the federal government， except for baby formulas， its accuracy is not as official as one might believe.

Sell-by dates are rarely ever exact and almost none reflect the safety of their content. Theyre merely suggestions from the manufacturers of when the product will be at its peak quality.

“There are actually dedicated websites that basically say that industries put the sell-by dates on products so that consumers will buy more， ” says health teacher Kurt Miller. “The sell-by dates are so short so as to increase the amount of products that consumers are buying. […] Now， of course there are a lot of foods that you certainly need to be more careful of like dairy and meats.”

Lastly， one of the biggest contributors to food waste is simply the fact that businesses and markets throw away leftover food when stores close rather than donating it to shelters for the homeless.

Due to the increase of food waste in landfills， a number of long-term consequences have appeared. One of the most dangerous ones is the release of methane6） gas.

Food lying beneath piles of waste is kept in an anaerobic7） state for lengthy periods of time and it decomposes without air. As a result， that airless setting releases methane， a greenhouse gas that traps heat.

Methane gas is dangerous in that if it is released into the atmosphere before being used， it absorbs the suns heat and warms the Earth. This can have a devastating impact on our climate as it is extremely effective in absorbing and trapping heat.

According to End Hunger， landfills are the greatest providers of human-related methane gas source. They account for nearly 34 percent of methane emissions.

Another consequence of food waste that future generations will encounter is a shortage of water and land resources. According to the Farmland Information Center， 40.8 percent of America is covered in farmland. The agricultural sector consumes approximately 70 percent of the worlds storage of freshwater， on a global scale.

“Were definitely going to see a depletion8） of resources for sure if people are going to keep throwing away food which hasnt gone bad or buying too much food，” Holmes says. “Its definitely going to be detrimental9） to future generations because if we dont watch what we throw away and how much were using our resources， then were really just being ignorant and not choosing to care about or respect our earth.”

The problem with food wastage is not one that can be corrected over the course of a few days， months or years. The U.S Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Agency announced that for the first time there will be a national target for reducing food waste.

In Seattle， citizens are fined for not sorting through their trash and recyclables. Massachusetts has begun to place food waste bans on schools and businesses. There is legislation that will increase tax deduction10） for businesses that donate surplus food.

The goal of the movement is not to force citizens to throw out less food， but to change the culture surrounding it. Such measures are aimed at educating the public and changing the mindset to one that is “sensitive” to food waste， while reaping the environmental and economic benefits at the same time.

Many stores are making the decision to sell produce that is perfectly fine in quality， but not quite as visually appealing. However， the rules regarding food safety are not as clear as they could be.

Holmes thinks that people will also need to learn the difference between sell-by dates （the suggested date for peak freshness） and expiration dates （the date passed which foods are no longer safe to eat）.

“Learning the difference between an expiration date and a sell-by date is definitely important because some people will see the sell-by date and deem it unacceptable to eat after it has passed its sell-by date，” Holmes said.

Identifying which foods are wasted most often and why， in both businesses and at home， is key to keeping food from piling up in landfills.

“If you saw what a massive landfill looked like and if you saw all of the environmental and social impacts of landfills， you might be less likely to choose things that actually end up filling up our landfills. I think we all need to be responsible for recognizing and understanding the impacts of our choices，” Smith says.

說起保存食物和減少食物浪費(fèi)，美國(guó)并未為此做好準(zhǔn)備，因?yàn)樵诿绹?guó)每年被扔掉的食物價(jià)值高達(dá)1650億美元。自1974年以來，美國(guó)人均食物浪費(fèi)量幾乎增長(zhǎng)了50%。

要問美國(guó)人為什么如此浪費(fèi)，那有諸多因素值得思量，比如有些農(nóng)產(chǎn)品外觀不如其他的養(yǎng)眼，再比如消費(fèi)者不知道最遲銷售日期的準(zhǔn)確度，等等。

不必要地扔食物不僅會(huì)造成浪費(fèi)，而且還會(huì)使我們的環(huán)境和經(jīng)濟(jì)付出高昂的代價(jià)。據(jù)美國(guó)自然資源保護(hù)委員會(huì)稱，食物從農(nóng)場(chǎng)到餐盤的過程需要消耗的能源占美國(guó)能源總預(yù)算的10%，用水占美國(guó)淡水消耗量的80%，用地占美國(guó)土地資源的50%。然而，生產(chǎn)出來的食物中卻有40%最終進(jìn)了垃圾填埋場(chǎng)。

到2025年，世界人口預(yù)計(jì)將從約70億增長(zhǎng)到近80億。盡管人口增長(zhǎng)將主要發(fā)生在發(fā)展中國(guó)家，但還是向所有國(guó)家拋出了一個(gè)重要問題：“我們?cè)撊绾勿B(yǎng)活所有這些人？”

目前，約有六分之一的美國(guó)人生活在食物無法得到保障的家庭中，這意味著這些家庭不得不在購(gòu)買食物與購(gòu)買其他生活必需品之間做出取舍。然而，即便存在這樣食物不足的情況，美國(guó)卻還面臨著食物生產(chǎn)過剩的問題，而大多數(shù)過剩食物都會(huì)被扔掉。有家庭正在爭(zhēng)著獲取食物，而另外一些家庭卻在扔掉整包的生菜、新鮮蔬菜和水果。

然而，扔掉食物浪費(fèi)的不僅僅是食物本身。生產(chǎn)那些最終進(jìn)了垃圾填埋場(chǎng)的食物所損耗的石油，比2010年墨西哥灣“深水地平線”鉆井平臺(tái)漏油事件所損失的石油要高出70倍。

據(jù)估算，食物浪費(fèi)若減少15%，不僅可以減輕對(duì)環(huán)境的影響，還能養(yǎng)活約2500萬美國(guó)人。但要真正有效地減少浪費(fèi)，就必須提高食物保存技術(shù)，并讓民眾和商家了解如何最大限度地避免浪費(fèi)。

要討論食物浪費(fèi)在過去幾年為何增長(zhǎng)如此迅猛，就要考慮多方面的因素。其中一個(gè)就是消費(fèi)者鐘情于品相好的水果和蔬菜。如果一個(gè)水果或一棵蔬菜的外觀不符合通常的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)條件，消費(fèi)者往往就會(huì)排斥它，因?yàn)樗麄冋J(rèn)定它有問題。

“我們有一套工業(yè)化的食品體系。在這個(gè)體系中，我們種植的水果和蔬菜必須符合一定的形狀和大小，以達(dá)到銷售標(biāo)準(zhǔn)?！眮碜浴柏S富的餐桌”組織的農(nóng)業(yè)教育者伊瑞恩·史密斯說，“很多非常好的水果和蔬菜都浪費(fèi)在了密封袋里，只因它們的形狀和大小不符合預(yù)期，無法賣到一個(gè)好價(jià)錢。這非?？上??！?/p>

美國(guó)農(nóng)業(yè)部有一個(gè)分級(jí)量表。如果一個(gè)水果或一棵蔬菜沒有達(dá)到標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，對(duì)農(nóng)民來說，它就失去了三分之二的市場(chǎng)價(jià)值。農(nóng)民如果認(rèn)為它不盈利，往往就會(huì)丟棄它。

史密斯認(rèn)為，如果消費(fèi)者能夠改變自身對(duì)于農(nóng)產(chǎn)品的要求，那么這將會(huì)對(duì)農(nóng)民種什么產(chǎn)生影響。

“在我們所處的消費(fèi)文化中，市場(chǎng)由消費(fèi)者驅(qū)動(dòng)，”她說，“由于我們習(xí)慣了看到大個(gè)兒的蘋果和大棵的生菜，所以我們就不想選擇任何不被視為‘完美的東西。

“而這推動(dòng)著農(nóng)民可以種什么和銷售什么。因此，如果我們能夠改變我們的消費(fèi)文化，作為消費(fèi)者能讓自己明白，味道并非一定與大小和形狀相關(guān)，那我們就會(huì)產(chǎn)生不同的需求，進(jìn)而對(duì)農(nóng)民種什么產(chǎn)生影響?！?/p>

除了品相方面的問題，導(dǎo)致垃圾填埋場(chǎng)里的食品廢棄物增加的另一個(gè)原因是對(duì)最遲銷售日期的無知。

據(jù)美國(guó)自然資源保護(hù)協(xié)會(huì)稱，90%的消費(fèi)者都曾因?yàn)閾?dān)心安全問題而將超過最遲銷售日期的食物扔掉。然而，除了嬰兒配方奶粉，其他食品的最遲銷售日期標(biāo)簽并不受聯(lián)邦政府的規(guī)范管理，因此其精確度并不像人們所認(rèn)為的那樣具有權(quán)威性。

最遲銷售日期極少是精確的，幾乎沒有一個(gè)能夠反映食物的安全性。它們只是生產(chǎn)商對(duì)于產(chǎn)品處于最佳質(zhì)量的時(shí)間說明而已。

“事實(shí)上，一些專業(yè)網(wǎng)站基本認(rèn)為，企業(yè)在產(chǎn)品上標(biāo)明最遲銷售日期只是為了讓消費(fèi)者購(gòu)買更多產(chǎn)品，”健康教師庫(kù)爾特·米勒說，“最遲銷售日期非常短，那是為了增加消費(fèi)者購(gòu)買產(chǎn)品的數(shù)量。[……]當(dāng)然，現(xiàn)在有很多種食物你需要多加小心，比如乳制品和肉類。”

最后，導(dǎo)致食物浪費(fèi)的最為重要的原因之一是，商家和市場(chǎng)在結(jié)束營(yíng)業(yè)以后會(huì)把剩余的食物扔掉，而不是捐給收容所。

由于垃圾填埋場(chǎng)里的食品廢棄物不斷增多，很多有著長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)影響的后果顯現(xiàn)了出來，其中最危險(xiǎn)的后果之一就是甲烷氣體的釋放。

堆積在層層垃圾下面的食物長(zhǎng)期處在與氧氣隔絕的狀態(tài)，并在無空氣的狀態(tài)下進(jìn)行分解。因此，這種不通氣的環(huán)境會(huì)釋放出甲烷——一種可以鎖住熱量的溫室氣體。

甲烷的危害在于，如果其在沒使用之前就被釋放到大氣中，它會(huì)吸收太陽光的熱量，讓地球變暖。這會(huì)給我們的氣候帶來毀滅性的影響，因?yàn)榧淄槟軌蚴钟行У匚蘸玩i住熱量。

據(jù)“終結(jié)饑餓”組織稱，垃圾填埋場(chǎng)是人為排放甲烷的最主要來源，其排放量占到甲烷排放總量的近34%。

食物浪費(fèi)使我們未來的子孫后代面臨的另一個(gè)后果是水資源和土地資源的短缺。據(jù)農(nóng)田信息中心稱，美國(guó)40.8%的領(lǐng)土被農(nóng)田覆蓋。從全球范圍來看，農(nóng)業(yè)部門消耗的淡水約占世界淡水儲(chǔ)量的70%。

“如果人們繼續(xù)把那些還沒變質(zhì)的食物扔掉或者購(gòu)買太多食物，我們以后肯定會(huì)遭遇資源枯竭，”霍爾姆斯說，“這對(duì)子孫后代而言有百害而無一利，因?yàn)槿绻覀兝^續(xù)無視我們?nèi)拥舻氖澄锖臀覀兿牡馁Y源數(shù)量，那我們就真是無知，沒有選擇關(guān)愛和尊重我們的地球?！?/p>

食物浪費(fèi)帶來的問題并非幾天、幾個(gè)月或幾年就能糾正的。美國(guó)農(nóng)業(yè)部和國(guó)家環(huán)境保護(hù)局宣布將會(huì)首次確立一個(gè)減少食物浪費(fèi)的全國(guó)性目標(biāo)。

在西雅圖，市民如果不對(duì)垃圾和可回收利用物品進(jìn)行分類將會(huì)被罰款。馬薩諸塞州已經(jīng)開始針對(duì)學(xué)校和商家頒布食物浪費(fèi)禁令。還有立法規(guī)定將會(huì)給捐獻(xiàn)剩余食物的商家增加免稅額。

這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)的目的不是強(qiáng)迫公民少扔食物，而是改變與之緊密相連的文化。這些舉措旨在教育公眾，使之轉(zhuǎn)變觀念，變得對(duì)食物浪費(fèi)“敏感”，同時(shí)也收獲環(huán)境和經(jīng)濟(jì)效益。

很多商店都決定銷售那些品質(zhì)優(yōu)良但是品相不夠吸引人的農(nóng)產(chǎn)品。然而，關(guān)于食品安全的法規(guī)還未做到盡可能的明確。

霍爾姆斯認(rèn)為，人們還需要學(xué)習(xí)最遲銷售日期（產(chǎn)品新鮮程度處于最佳的建議日期）與保質(zhì)期（超過該日期食用該產(chǎn)品有安全隱患）之間的區(qū)別。

“學(xué)習(xí)保質(zhì)期與最遲銷售日期之間的區(qū)別絕對(duì)重要，因?yàn)橛行┤藭?huì)查看最遲銷售日期，以為食物一旦過了最遲銷售日期就不能食用了?！被魻柲匪拐f。

防止食物在垃圾填埋場(chǎng)里堆積如山的關(guān)鍵是確定哪些食物是商家和家庭最常浪費(fèi)的，并找到浪費(fèi)的原因。

“如果你曾目睹巨大的垃圾填埋場(chǎng)是什么樣子，如果你明白垃圾填埋場(chǎng)給環(huán)境和社會(huì)所帶來的所有影響，你也許就不會(huì)去選購(gòu)那些最終會(huì)被填埋在垃圾場(chǎng)里的東西了。我認(rèn)為我們每個(gè)人都有責(zé)任認(rèn)識(shí)和了解自己的選擇會(huì)產(chǎn)生怎樣的影響?！笔访芩拐f。

1. Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010：指的是2010年4月20日，英國(guó)石油公司在美國(guó)墨西哥灣租用的鉆井平臺(tái)“深水地平線”發(fā)生爆炸，導(dǎo)致大量石油泄漏，釀成一場(chǎng)經(jīng)濟(jì)和環(huán)境慘劇。

2. augment [??ɡ?ment] vt. 擴(kuò)大，增加，增長(zhǎng)

3. ostracize [??str?sa?z] vt. 排斥，擯棄

4. seal [si?l] n. 密封袋，密封裝置

5. quote unquote：quote表示前引號(hào)，unquote表示后引號(hào)，兩者合用相當(dāng)于“所謂的”的意思。

6. methane [?mi?θe?n] n. [化]甲烷，沼氣

7. anaerobic [??n??r??b?k] adj. 由無氧引起的，在缺氧的情況下生活（或發(fā)生）的

8. depletion [d??pli??（?）n] n. 耗盡，枯竭

9. detrimental [?detr??ment（?）l] adj. 有害的;不利的

10. deduction [d??d?k?（?）n] n. 扣除額，減除數(shù)