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Food Waste Grows By 50 Percent in The Last 40 Years
Last Updated September, 2023
Go Green, from electronics to automobiles, everything everywhere now incorporates technology to reduce consumption of natural resources and maximize efficiency with a view to maintaining sustainable development. Unfortunately, an average American household continues to waste around $2,200 annually in just food. This is anything but green. In a recent report, it was found that Americans throw away a total of $165 billion in food each year, which is alarming considering the fact that 80 percent of third world countries starve daily.
The problem lies in the fact that Americans have increased their average daily consumption over the past 40 years. To be exact, food waste has grown by 50 percent and the money spent in growing, cultivating this quantity of food is going nowhere. It’s the food that is not being eaten and the problem starts with the common American household.
Portions have grown. For example, the average size of a cookie in the last 4 decades has tripled and so a single cookie wasted now accounts for three times more waste than before. Even supermarkets and grocery giants are contributing to this situation. Fruits and vegetables that are not of the perfect shape find their way to landfills instead of the discount shelves. Older produce gets taken off shelves rather quickly just as is the case at homes.
Vacuum Sealers Can Change The Trend
Vacuum sealers are a possible way out of this downward spiral. Sealing food, be it dry or liquid helps keep it fresher for longer. Deep freezing vegetables, fruits and meat after vacuum sealing them prolongs their life by a good few weeks saving consumers money and the nation vital resources. Considering the fact that many food products are imported, any kind of savings done at home directly translates to income well spent on the national level.
Vacuum sealers help preserve the taste, texture, and flavor of food. They remove air from within the bags and thus kill all bacteria and do not promote their growth. What would ideally stay for a few days can then be preserved for over a week? Basically, anything perishable by nature can be used way past its expiry date. In a recent estimate, if Americans started preserving food through vacuum wrapping, they would reduce their waste from $2,200 per year to under $800 a year.
To understand the need to start saving food as a natural resource, one must look closely at the economics of perishable items. Higher the demand more is the price and if there is a lot of wastage then the supply is less. This automatically hikes the price. Carrots, potatoes, tomatoes of an inferior shape or size often get tossed into landfills and consumers have gotten hitched to this trend. Any fruit or veggie that looks odd in shape or color gets tossed out of the house. The shape has got nothing to do with the taste or its freshness. Actually, perfectly shaped fruits and veggies can also hide a rotting core inside. Why waste such precious resources when 2/3rd of the world starves over basic perishable items on a daily basis? With vacuum sealers, you can preserve your leftovers, prolong the life of meat, veggies, and fruits and preserve jams, pickles, and chutneys for longer.