Illinois State University - Summer 2022
German 112, Chapter 1 Report
Professor Miller, Section 7
April 13, 2022
Moreover, In 2013, the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) performed
research that suggests that the leading cause of food waste in America is due to uncertainty
over food expiration dates, such as confusion in deciphering best-before, sell-by, or use-by
dates. (Johnson, 2020) As a result, Joined by Harvard's Food Law and Policy Clinic, the
NRDC produced a study called The Dating Game: How Confusing Food Date Labels Leads to
Food Waste in America.
Class Date: 25/8/2024
Instructor’s Note: Good work on referencing historical context.
REPORT CONTENT:
## Discussion (List)
- This United States-based study looked at the intertwining laws which lead labeling to end
up unclear and erratic.
- This uncertainty leads to consumers to toss food, most often because they think the food
may be unsafe or misunderstand the labeling on the food completely.
## Analysis
Lack of regulation on labeling can result in large quantities of food being removed from the
market overall. Retail stores throw away large quantities of food. Usually, this consists of
items that have reached either their best-before, sell-by, or use-by dates.
## Findings (List)
- Some stores make an effort to markdown these goods with systems like discount stickers,
stores have widely varying policies to handle the above mentioned foods.
- Much of the food discarded by stores is still edible.
- Some stores put efforts into preventing access to poor or homeless people, while others
work with charitable organization to distribute food.
- Retailers also contribute to waste as a result of their contractual arrangements with
suppliers.
## Conclusion
Failure to supply agreed quantities renders farmers or processors liable to have their
contracts cancelled. As a consequence, they plan to produce more than actually required to
meet the contract, to have a margin of error. Surplus production is often simply disposed of.
## Background
Retailers usually have strict cosmetic standards for produce, and if fruits or vegetables are
misshapen or superficially bruised, they are often not put on the shelf. In the United States,
some of the estimated six billion pounds of produce wasted each year are discarded because
of appearance. The USDA publishes guidelines used as a baseline assessment by produce
distributors, grocery stores, restaurants and other consumers in order to rate the quality of
food. These guidelines and how they rate are readily available on their website.
## Discussion
For example, apples get graded by their size, color, wax residue, firmness, and skin
appearance. If apples rank highly in these categories and show close to no superficial
defects, they are rated as "U.S. Extra Fancy" or "U.S. Fancy", these are the typical ratings
sought out by grocery stores when purchasing their produce.
## Analysis
Any apples with suboptimal levels of appearance are ranked as either "U.S. Number 1" or
"Utility" and are not normally purchased for retail, as recommended by produce marketing
sources, despite being safe and edible. A number of regional programs and organizations
have been established by the EPA and USDA in an attempt to reduce such produce waste.
Organizations in other countries, such as Good & Fugly in Australia and No Food Waste in
India, are making similar efforts worldwide.
## Findings (List)
- The popular trend of selling "imperfect" produce at retail has been criticized for
overlooking existing markets for these foods (eg the food processing industry and bargain
grocery stores) and downplaying the household-level wasting of food that is statistically a
larger part of the overall problem.
- The fishing industry wastes substantial amounts of food: about 40–60% of fish caught in
Europe is discarded as the wrong size or wrong species.
## Conclusion (List)
- This comes to about 2.3 million tonnes per annum in the North Atlantic and the North Sea.
- === Food-service industry ===
Addressing food waste requires involving multiple stakeholders throughout the food supply
chain, which is a market-driven system.
## Background (List)
- Each stakeholder and their food waste quantification can be dependent on geographical
scales.
- This geographical scale then results in the production of different definitions of food
waste, as mentioned earlier, with respect to the complexities of food supply chains and then
create a narrative that further shows the needs for specific research on important
stakeholders.
- The food service industry suggests to be a key stakeholder to achieve mitigation.
- The key players within the food service industry include the manufacturers, producers,
farmers, managers, employees, and consumers.
- The key factors relating to food waste in restaurants include the food menu, the
production procedure, the use of pre-prepared versus whole food products, dinnerware
size, type of ingredients used, the dishes served, opening hours, and disposal methods.
## Discussion
These factors then can be categorized in the different stages of operations that relate to pre-
kitchen, kitchen-based, and post-kitchen processes. In restaurants in developing countries,
the lack of infrastructure and associated technical and managerial skills in food production
have been identified as the key drivers in the creation of food waste currently and in the
future. Comparatively, the majority of food waste in developed countries tends to be
produced post-consumer, which is driven by the low prices of food, greater disposable
income, consumers' high expectations of food cosmetic standards, and the increasing
disconnect between consumers and how food is being produced (Urbanization). That being
said, in United States restaurants alone, an estimated 22 to 33 billion pounds are wasted
each year.
## Analysis
Serving plate size reduction has been identified as an intervention effective at reducing
restaurant food waste. Under such interventions, restaurants decrease the size of plates for
meals provided to diners.
References / Works Cited:
1. Wikipedia (n.d.). Retrieved from https://wikipedia.org/
2. Random Book Title (2022). Academic Publishing House.
