Dear
EarthTalk:
What are the environmental implications of all the food we
throw away here in the United States? -
Mike Schiller,
Cambridge,
MA
"According to
the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Loss Project, Americans
throw away more than 25 percent - some 25.9 million tons - of all
the food we produce for domestic sale and consumption."
Pic courtesy:
"Patrick Michael Mcleon, courtesy Flickr."

Food waste is a huge issue in America,
especially in light of the growing divide between the profligate rich
and the hungry poor. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
Food Loss Project, we throw away more than 25 percent—some 25.9
million tons—of all the food we produce for domestic sale and
consumption. A 2004 University of Arizona study pegs the figure at
closer to 50 percent, finding that Americans squander some $43 billion
annually on wasted food. Lead researcher Timothy Jones reported that
on average, U.S. households waste 14 percent of their food purchases.
He estimates that a family of four tosses out $590 per year in meat,
fruits, vegetables and grain products alone.
Once this food gets to the landfill, it
then generates methane, a greenhouse gas 23 times as potent as carbon
dioxide in trapping heat within our atmosphere. According to the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, landfills account for 34 percent of
all methane emissions in the U.S.—meaning that the sandwich you made
and then didn’t eat yesterday is increasing your personal—and our
collective—carbon footprint.
Furthermore, researchers at the
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
concluded in a 2009 study that each year a quarter of U.S. water
consumption and over 300 million barrels of oil (four percent of U.S.
oil consumption) go into producing and distributing food that
ultimately ends up in landfills. They add that per-capita food waste
has increased by half since 1974, and suggest that the “U.S. obesity
epidemic” may be the result of a “push effect” of increased food
availability and marketing to Americans unable to match their food
intake with the increased supply of cheap food.
In spite of all this, environmentalists
are optimistic that Americans can reduce their food waste. For one,
restaurants and markets are increasingly finding outlets—including
soup kitchens feeding the poor and farms looking for cheap animal
feed—for food they would otherwise toss. Some communities now pick-up
and centrally compost food waste from commercial and residential
buildings and put the resulting nutrient-rich soil to use in municipal
projects or for sale to the public. And a few enterprising cities now
have waste-to-energy technologies that extract methane from landfills
for use as fuel.
An extreme reaction to the food waste
issue is “freeganism,” a movement of people who live on the food cast
off by others. These “dumpster divers” share, in the words of movement
founder Warren Oakes, “an anti-consumeristic ethic about eating” and
not only avoid creating waste but live off that caused by others.
Going freegan might be a bit much for
most of us, but we can all take action to minimize food waste. The
University of Arizona’s Jones suggests more careful purchase planning,
including devising complete menus and grocery lists, and knowing what
foods are lurking in the fridge and pantry that should be used before
they go bad. And don’t forget that many foods can be frozen and
enjoyed later. Jones contends that if we as a nation were able to cut
our food waste in half we’d extend the lifespan of landfills by
decades and reduce soil depletion and the application of untold tons
of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.
CONTACTS: University
of Arizona Food Waste Study,
www.communitycompost.org/info/usafood.pdf ; N IDDK,
www.niddk.nih.gov
; Freegans,
www.freegan.info .
Dear EarthTalk:
A fisherman friend of mine told me that trout populations in the
Interior West of the U.S. are already shrinking due to global warming.
Is this true? And what is the long term prognosis for the trout? -
Jon Klein,
Portsmouth, NH
"Throughout America’s Rocky Mountain West, rivers and streams are
getting hotter and drier, presenting new challenges for trout already
struggling with road building, habitat fragmentation, pollution and
other man-made disturbances. Pictured: A brook trout swims in a native
stream."
Pic courtesy:
"Eric Engbretson, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service."
Most
scientists agree that the effects of global warming are starting to
show up all around the world in many forms. Throughout America’s Rocky
Mountain West, rivers and streams are getting hotter and drier,
presenting new challenges for trout already struggling with habitat
fragmentation and pollution.
A recent report by the Natural
Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Montana Trout Unlimited (MTU)
found that global warming is shrinking cold-water fish habitat,
threatening the trout and other fish that depend upon it. Scientists
believe that the nearly five degree (F) temperature increase
forecasted for the Interior West could reduce trout habitat by half in
this century, sending trout populations into a tailspin.
While declines in trout population are
bad for local ecosystems and biodiversity, they are also bad for
people—especially sport fishers and those employed by the billion
dollar recreation industry. In Colorado, sport fishing contributes
$800 million to the state’s economy each year and supports 11,000
jobs. In Montana, angling generates $300 million annually. Trout
fishing also brings in big dollars to New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and
Idaho. “Hotter temperatures are shutting down our most popular streams
during the height of the fishing season,” says MTU’s Bruce Farling.
“The closures are becoming an annual event when trout are stressed by
warm water and low flows. The implications…are clear: fewer trout and
fewer opportunities to fish.”
A U.S. Forest Service (USFS) study
found that between 53 and 97 percent of natural trout populations in
the Southern Appalachian region of the U.S. could disappear due to
warmer temperatures predicted by global climate change models. The
three species of trout in question—Brooks, Rainbows and Browns—are
already barely hanging on due to road building, channelization and
other man-made disturbances.
“As remaining habitat for trout becomes
more fragmented, only small refuges in headwater streams at the
highest levels will remain,” says biologist Patricia Flebbe of USFS’s
Virginia-based Southern Research Station. “Small populations in
isolated patches can be easily lost and, in a warmer climate, could
simply die out,” she warns, adding that Southern Appalachia trout
fishing may become “heavily managed.”
“Trout are one of the best indicators
of healthy river ecosystems; they’re the aquatic version of the canary
in the coalmine,” says NRDC’s Theo Spencer. “This is our wake up call
that urgent action is needed today to reduce heat-trapping pollution
that causes global warming.”
NRDC is calling for swift enactment of
climate change legislation and for limiting logging and road building
near trout streams to ensure enough shade to maintain cooler water
temperatures. Also, they say, placing fallen trees and branches and
boulders into rivers and streams will help provide shelter for fish
and create deeper pools that collect cooler water. Keeping pesticides
and fertilizers out of watersheds will also improve the quality of
habitat and likelihood of survival for trout species facing an
uncertain future.
CONTACTS: NRDC,
www.nrdc.org ; MTU,
www.montanatu.org ; USFS,
www.srs.fs.usda.gov
Dear EarthTalk: What are the primary environmental concerns
in the aftermath of the big earthquake in Haiti?-
Frank Dover,
Portland, OR
Pic
courtesy: "Remi
Kaupp, Wikipedia."

As would be the case after any natural disaster, water-borne illness
could run rampant and chemicals and oil could leak out of damaged
storage facilities as a result of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that
ripped apart Haiti on January 12. Surprisingly, no large industrial
spills have been found during initial post-quake rescue efforts, but
of course the focus has been on saving human lives and restoring civil
order.
-
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