Revisiting the cost of food waste on our planet

The price of food waste in the US.

A large truck dumps 45,000 pounds of food waste from the city of San Francisco for processing into compost at Recology Blossom Valley Organics North near Vernalis, California, U.S., November 10, 2022.
A truck dumps 45,000 pounds (20 tonnes) of food waste from the city of San Francisco for processing into compost at Recology Blossom Valley Organics North near Vernalis, California, US, November 10, 2022 [Brittany Hosea-Small/Reuters]

Americans waste about $408bn in food every year but the most significant consequence of food waste is not financial. Pollution from methane gas generated at landfills accounts for about 8 to 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Today, we are re-exploring food waste – how to avoid it and what steps local and national governments in the United States are taking to solve the problem.

In this episode: 

  • Madeline Keating, city strategist, Healthy People and Thriving Communities Program at NRDC (@NRDC)
  • Kristyn Oldendorf, chief of the Office of Waste Diversion for the Department of Public Works, Baltimore (@BaltimoreDPW)
  • Marvin Hayes, youth program manager, Baltimore Compost Collective (@bmorecompost)

Episode credits:

This episode was updated by Ney Alvarez. The original production team was Alexandra Locke, Negin Owliaei, Amy Walters, Ney Alvarez, Priyanka Tilve, Ruby Zaman, Tom Fenton, Stacey Samuel and our host, Malika Bilal. Our production team also includes Chloe K. Li and Ashish Malhotra. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our engagement producers are Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio. 

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Source: Al Jazeera