Where does food go when it’s deemed unfit for human consumption? What about the stuff that goes to waste in grocery stores, restaurants, schools and farms?
Landfills and incinerators take care of the job, but more often than not food that’s thrown away shouldn’t be, according to Ryan Parker, environmental policy outreach coordinator at the Natural Resources Council of Maine.
“Up to one-third of all food is spoiled or squandered before it is consumed by people,” the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reports. And according Parker, municipal solid waste budgets are one of the top four costs that most municipalities have to pay.
When paired with reports from the FAO that there were 805 million hungry people on Earth between 2012 and 2014 and reports from the EPA that wasted food produces methane, a greenhouse gas with 21 times the global warming potential compared with carbon dioxide, preventing food waste has the potential to benefit the economy, the community and the environment.
That’s why it has become an important focus for the Natural Resources Council of Maine.
To promote awareness and encourage sustainability, the group has started hosting screenings in Maine communities featuring the film “Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story,” a 74-minute documentary about food waste by Peg Leg Films. The next screening will take place at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 3, at COESPACE on Columbia Street in Bangor. It is being co-sponsored by the Bangor Area Food Council.
“We do a lot of work around the state trying to protect natural resources,” Parker said. “We’re working with the legislature and communities to decrease the amount of municipal solid waste sent to landfills and generated.”
As the state’s largest environmental advocacy group, the Natural Resources Council of Maine helps conserve and protect Maine’s natural resources.
Parker, who has helped spearhead this project, worked as a commercial organic farmer for a decade. During that time he became aware of how food waste affects communities.
“As a farmer, I used to get wasted produce and feed it to my pigs. I was shocked because most of the food I was getting for my pigs was too good for pigs,” Parker said. “A lot of food that’s thrown away is perfectly edible.”
According to the EPA, “[w]hen food goes to the landfill, it’s similar to tying food in a plastic bag. The nutrients in the food never return to the soil. The wasted food rots and produces methane gas.”
“Methane gas is 20 times more potent than CO2 for trapping heat in the atmosphere,” Parker said.
Parker also expressed the potential benefit that eliminating food waste could provide for communities. In the United States, Parker explained enough food is wasted to feed 430 million people in a year.
“We’re throwing away enough food to feed another America,” he said.
Perhaps more applicable is the more immediate need — in Maine.
“ Maine leads New England in food insecurity, specifically for children and seniors,” Parker said.
“[Rep.] Chellie Pingree has just introduced a bill in Congress called the Food Recovery Act, which is meant to address this problem,” Parker said. He explained that there is legislation in place the prevents intelligent policy on food waste, and this would help counter that.
“[HR 4184, the] Food Recovery Act takes a comprehensive approach to reducing the amount of food that ends up in landfills and at the same time reducing the number of Americans who have a hard time putting food on the table,” Pingree’s website reads. The legislation is directed toward reducing food waste in grocery stores, restaurants, schools and farms.
“Just Eat It” addresses these problems and helps spread awareness about the solvable problem of reducing food waste, according to Parker.
“People are waking up to this huge problem. If we solve this we could solve a lot of different problems,” he said.
The Natural Resources Council of Maine already has held events screening the film in Belfast and Portland. Parker said 155 people attended the Portland event.
“We’ve sold out ahead of time everywhere we’ve gone with this,” Parker said.
The group also plans future events in Lewiston and Blue Hill, with others in the works. An RSVP is required for the event in Bangor, and a spot can be reserved at nrcm.kintera.org/justeatitbangor.
