waste: Avoiding confusion
Everyone eats
It’s the most important problem. Eating is more common than driving or playing pickleball. Seven billion multiplied by a large number is a lot.
The food we eat can have a significant impact on climate. Some of the factors in no particular order are:
- We have to clear the forest in order to build farms
- Fertilizer is made from petrochemicals
- We feed animals plants that we grow.
- The impact of chemical run-off on erosion and soil erosion is significant
- Trucks are used to transport all kinds of goods
- Some foods require far more water, land and fertilizer.
- Gases from domesticated animals can be particularly toxic
- We heat, chill and process food
All of these activities have a huge impact, even if we don’t waste any food.
Do you want to clean your plate?
Food production, delivery, and consumption are all rife with waste. Farms have the biggest impact. The food doesn’t all mature at the same time. It is time-consuming and expensive to harvest. Crops are damaged by pests and birds. Food is fragile. The cost of spending more time and effort to grab one last peach outweighs the benefit. The distance between where an item is grown and where it will be processed or consumed, is not zero.
All of this adds up and is beyond the control of a typical citizen. The amount of food wasted by consumers is less than one-quarter.
We shouldn’t waste food or buy more than you need. Food that could be used for another meal or compost can also be useful in a community garden.
Climate change is a system problem that requires systemic solutions. If we accurately price carbon, the market will begin to focus more on harvesting the last of the peaches, or switching to drip irrigation, Vertical Farms, or simple Techniques with enormous benefits.
By the time food reaches your plate, the majority of damage has already been done.
We have the tools to make a difference. Even if you try to create a business based on it, insisting on personal voluntary action is a difficult and long road. We are surrounded by hungry people, and better supply chains can help us allocate the food that we waste more efficiently.
In many restaurants, the cultural trend of providing more food than guests can eat as a sign of generosity or status is persistent. It’s only a small part in a larger system that requires fixing.
A huge opportunity is the shift of our industrial systems towards climate resilience. This shift in industrial systems creates efficiencies, and it helps us to move away from consumption that is a dead end. We need to know which systems are the most powerful and we must work on them relentlessly.
The Carbon Almanac has more details, references, and insights. This week, you can take the course that dozens made on LinkedIn.
