Every year, about 72 million pounds of perfectly good food goes to waste in the United States, ending up in landfills. Of that 72 billion, 33 billion pounds is thrown out by American restaurants. Most restaurant waste comes from the restaurant ordering too much food and having it expire. Additionally, that steak that you ordered that comes out medium rare, but you wanted well done, that’s going in the garbage. Or that piece of chicken you left on your plate and didn’t finish because you were too full, garbage. According to a recent report, half a pound of food is wasted per meal. According to the USDA, the restaurant industry sheds $162 billion annually on food that goes to waste. In a single year, one American restaurant can throw away 25,000-75,000 pounds of food. In comparison, the maximum capacity of a semi-truck is 80,000 pounds.
Instead of restaurants wasting so much food, they can do many things to help save money, help other people, and help the Earth. One in eight Americans is food insecure. That means 42 million Americans don’t know when or where their next meal will come from. Transferring just 15% of all overall food waste would cut the amount of food-insecure Americans by half. If a restaurant orders too much food, it can freeze the food, allowing it to last far longer. Most food scraps from a restaurant can be composted, so if a restaurant adopts a composting program they can help keep food scraps out of landfills, along with a restaurant to grow their food, as the compost will provide nutrient-rich soil. Most restaurants can benefit from the fact that spent grease can be reused to power vehicles. If produce is starting to go bad, it can be used in sauces, smoothies, ferments, and other similar applications.
Many American restaurants say that one big reason why they don’t donate food to food banks or soup kitchens is that they are worried about liability and transportation issues. However, the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act of Food Donation of 1996, states that restaurants are protected from liability in most donation cases. Restaurants also struggle with finding places to bring food to. The app goMkt was created to help restaurants find food banks, and churches to bring food donations to. Another app, Copia, helps restaurants schedule pickups of surplus food, and can also match restaurants to nearby non-profit organizations to help prevent food from going into landfills. As for what people can do to prevent the waste of restaurant food, you can ask for a take-home box, or, a more environmentally friendly way to take food home, is to bring a reusable container from home to put food into.
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