New Global Initiative to Cut Food Waste, Plus Ways to Reduce Your Own ‘Foodprint’

Reader Contribution by Victoria Pitcher
Published on January 30, 2013
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Every year, 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted worldwide, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). That’s one-third of all food produced, and that’s worth about $1 trillion.

All of that food waste ends up in a landfill and produces methane, which contributes to global warming. Methane from landfills makes up more than 20 percent of all methane emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

These food waste statistics are alarming, but each of us can take action. A cool new initiative? The global campaign introduced by the FAO that intends to cut down on how much food is wasted around the world. The campaign Think.Eat.Save. Reduce Your Foodprint encourages both food producers and consumers to reduce their waste, and it offers information on how to do so.

There are many ways you can reduce your foodprint. Think.Eat.Save offers suggestions such as freezing anything you can’t eat before its expiration date and scaling down the contents of your fridge by using what is already in it before purchasing more groceries.

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