According to a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Americans are tossing up to 40 percent of the food supply each year, along with all the resources used to produce food that never gets eaten. Food waste occurs at home, on the farm, and in supermarkets.
In this TED Talk, NRDC’s executive director Peter Lehner explores the low-tech, tried-and-true solutions proven to reduce food waste and save money for consumers and businesses alike. It’s essential that we start putting more of these solutions into action.
Find out what we can do to get the most out of our food system at:
Peter Lehner is the Executive Director of NRDC and NRDC Action Fund. NRDC, one the nation’s leading environmental advocacy organizations with over 1.3 million members and activists and 430 staff in seven offices, works to protect people’s health and families, communities, jobs, and wild spaces by accelerating clean and efficient energy, transportation and protecting our oceans, waters and homes from pollution. He is responsible for guiding NRDC’s policy positions, advocacy strategies, communications plans, development and administration, and managing NRDC’s seven offices and for leading the Action Fund’s political activities. Since Peter’s return to NRDC in 2006, NRDC has opened new offices in Beijing and Chicago, started the Center for Market Innovation, and expanded both its policy and communications capacity. Previously, Peter served as chief of the Environmental Protection Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s office for eight years. He supervised all environmental litigation by the state, prosecuting a wide variety of polluters and developing innovative multi-state strategies targeting global warming, acid rain, and smog causing emissions. Peter previously served at NRDC as a senior attorney in charge of the water program. Before that, he created and led the environmental prosecution unit for New York City. Peter holds an AB in philosophy and mathematics from Harvard College and is a graduate of Columbia University Law School, where he continues to teach environmental law. He also has extensive experience in sustainable farming and green business.
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My new way of thinking is to stop thinking of food as a resource and start thinking of it as a commitment. When I shop, I stop before i check out, ask myself when will I cook the food, when will I eat the food, then I put stuff back. Maybe it will work for others?
not in the food waste category but when i go to a restaurant i don't use a lid or straw. not sure where the lid and straw came from at restaurants, but who doesn't know how to drink out of a cup/glass without a straw? i think it's a safe bet 99.9% of people don't use straws at home on a regular basis. if you get a fast food meal to go or drive thru i understand the need, but next time you eat at a restaurant skip the lid and straw
Back when I used to buy packaged food, I would continue to eat it until it was finished far from a month of the expiration date. It smelled just as good as when I bought it and never had any problems. My husband, if he ever found out, would complain of stomach pain because of having "rotten food" but if he didn't know, it was expired, he never complained. Now that I make my own food and buy only what I need, I do admit some of my food gets a bit moldy, so if my jam's canning failed and mold grew in it, I scoop the little mold out and eat the jam as is. Buying from the bulk bins really helps by only getting what you need. No one is pressuring you to eat a pound of almonds if you only needed about a cup's worth. Also, do some dumpster diving for food when possible!
I have a big problem, and bitching on YouTube is pathetic, I know, but I don't want to cry on Facebook or start shit at work (yet) but I need advice. At my grocery store thousands of dollars worth of edible produce gets thrown in the trash because of a combination of lack of labor/time to "red bag" it for reduced sale and general apathy. I'm not in produce. I'm a butcher, but It was so hard to see so much get thrown to the worms. I complained about it long enough to learn I could catch more ants with honey than vinegar and let them think it was their own idea to let me go through what they toss and "red bag" it myself at a discount and truck it down to the homeless shelter. I've been doing this for months. Recently, we've been blessed with a new third wheel store director who put a stop to it. I literally saw this guy take the shit and eat it himself in front of me while stopping me from donating it for "protocol reasons". I know, for reasons of hours and pressure to make things up front cherry that this now will go on and none of this will be red bagged for extra sheckels and go right back into the worm dumpster and I could be fired for sifting through it off the clock to donate. I don't know what to do. I'm not a hippy environmentalist let's all hold hands and make everything free and we can all jack each other off singing coombiah type of person either. I'm not even liberal. I'm not even anti big business either, but what I have seen is awful, and illegal and most developed countries. I did something about it and now these pigs put a stop to it and I'm not ready to risk my job over it. I want to go back to what I was doing and I don't know how. I know people that watch these videos do care about stuff like this and I'm one of the people that can actually make a difference, but they fucked me over. I've got ideas and I'm not giving up or feeling sorry for myself or starting shit (yet) but I could use an outside perspective. And don't tell me to complain to corporate. Help me out, YouTube
It's a pity that we dare call ourselves the superior species when our animal counterparts are more thoughtful than we are when it comes to food. Perhaps that's because they deserve it more?
portion size is larger now what in gods name is he saying they have gotten smaller and prizes have gone nuts idiot just look at soda for an example we now have 16 ounces soda that cost 50 cents more than a 20 ounce just two years ago Government did not do shit get government out of the fraking way and let the people work with the market
I am a final year student studying product design and I am looking to design a solution to reduce food waste. I would be very grateful if you could fill out my survey. No personal information is taken and it is multiple choice, so just ticking boxes. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TMKKVT2
His ideas were very well put together and helpful. Although I kinda felt like he was planting bad ideas in my head too. Only me? Maybe I just been up too long.
We loved your talk and thank you so much for referring us- such a surprise to hear your mention! All the best and hopefully we will get Rubies in the Rubble to the states soon… for more information on us, please visit our website or to see our youtube video showing how we started in 2010
After doing a waste audit at our local elementary school last year we found that 70% of the dumpster bound discards were compostable food scraps and liquids. We started a composting program. Each day we compost approx. 50 pounds of food scraps—excluding meat and dairy—for a population of about 440 students. That's 9,000 pounds per year not counting liquids. We have done this w/ a small group of parent volunteers and support of school staff. Working on streamlining & district sharing.
Great to see this talk. If you enjoyed this and are interested in learning more about food waste and what can be done about it. Join Food Shift in the movement to end food waste. Food Shift works collaboratively with communities, businesses and governments to develop long-term sustainable solutions to reduce food waste. You can find us on facebook, and twitter.
A bonus of not throwing food out: your garbage doesn't stink. I compost all organic materials, leaving only plastic, clothing unsuitable for charity, and broken items as trash — 1 can every 6 weeks for a family of 3. Food waste in the garbage makes the streets stink on garbage day. It makes landfills off-gas or incinerators burn inefficiently. Sure, not everybody can compost, but it's time to develop policies to deal with not only the waste of edible food, but the waste of inedible food too.
who watched this for school
Love Planet Earth and be an Eco Hero! ?❤️
My new way of thinking is to stop thinking of food as a resource and start thinking of it as a commitment. When I shop, I stop before i check out, ask myself when will I cook the food, when will I eat the food, then I put stuff back. Maybe it will work for others?
We should give the food to the homeless
not in the food waste category but when i go to a restaurant i don't use a lid or straw. not sure where the lid and straw came from at restaurants, but who doesn't know how to drink out of a cup/glass without a straw? i think it's a safe bet 99.9% of people don't use straws at home on a regular basis. if you get a fast food meal to go or drive thru i understand the need, but next time you eat at a restaurant skip the lid and straw
"Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story" is worth watching
Very insightful…Wealth of information that has helped me with an assignment
Back when I used to buy packaged food, I would continue to eat it until it was finished far from a month of the expiration date. It smelled just as good as when I bought it and never had any problems. My husband, if he ever found out, would complain of stomach pain because of having "rotten food" but if he didn't know, it was expired, he never complained.
Now that I make my own food and buy only what I need, I do admit some of my food gets a bit moldy, so if my jam's canning failed and mold grew in it, I scoop the little mold out and eat the jam as is.
Buying from the bulk bins really helps by only getting what you need. No one is pressuring you to eat a pound of almonds if you only needed about a cup's worth.
Also, do some dumpster diving for food when possible!
I have a big problem, and bitching on YouTube is pathetic, I know, but I don't want to cry on Facebook or start shit at work (yet) but I need advice. At my grocery store thousands of dollars worth of edible produce gets thrown in the trash because of a combination of lack of labor/time to "red bag" it for reduced sale and general apathy.
I'm not in produce. I'm a butcher, but It was so hard to see so much get thrown to the worms. I complained about it long enough to learn I could catch more ants with honey than vinegar and let them think it was their own idea to let me go through what they toss and "red bag" it myself at a discount and truck it down to the homeless shelter. I've been doing this for months.
Recently, we've been blessed with a new third wheel store director who put a stop to it. I literally saw this guy take the shit and eat it himself in front of me while stopping me from donating it for "protocol reasons". I know, for reasons of hours and pressure to make things up front cherry that this now will go on and none of this will be red bagged for extra sheckels and go right back into the worm dumpster and I could be fired for sifting through it off the clock to donate.
I don't know what to do. I'm not a hippy environmentalist let's all hold hands and make everything free and we can all jack each other off singing coombiah type of person either. I'm not even liberal. I'm not even anti big business either, but what I have seen is awful, and illegal and most developed countries. I did something about it and now these pigs put a stop to it and I'm not ready to risk my job over it. I want to go back to what I was doing and I don't know how. I know people that watch these videos do care about stuff like this and I'm one of the people that can actually make a difference, but they fucked me over.
I've got ideas and I'm not giving up or feeling sorry for myself or starting shit (yet) but I could use an outside perspective. And don't tell me to complain to corporate. Help me out, YouTube
100% ture and agreed..Join us on facebook page to aware everyone
It's a pity that we dare call ourselves the superior species when our animal counterparts are more thoughtful than we are when it comes to food.
Perhaps that's because they deserve it more?
Wonderfully lucid. Well presented and organised.
Great presentation.
Very good talk. Food Waste is out of control at every stage of the chain.
its government that set up expatriation dates and ties the hands of industry by regulations that are stupid this man is an idiot
portion size is larger now what in gods name is he saying they have gotten smaller and prizes have gone nuts idiot just look at soda for an example we now have 16 ounces soda that cost 50 cents more than a 20 ounce just two years ago Government did not do shit get government out of the fraking way and let the people work with the market
I am a final year student studying product design and I am looking to design a solution to reduce food waste. I would be very grateful if you could fill out my survey. No personal information is taken and it is multiple choice, so just ticking boxes.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TMKKVT2
Do you think it is important to donate to charity? If yes, support us develop Jiraffe, the app that will make fighting food waste and hunger easy, fast, global. You can fund our campaign here https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/1st-smart-app-to-fight-food-waste-hunger-jiraffe/x/8859577 Deadline 31.12.2014
Coming soon. The solution to residential and commercial Food Waste. The SAFE system. Sustainable Alternative Feed Enterprises.
His ideas were very well put together and helpful. Although I kinda felt like he was planting bad ideas in my head too. Only me? Maybe I just been up too long.
Most food waste happens at dining halls and resturaunts, grocery stores. Not homes. TED.
We loved your talk and thank you so much for referring us- such a surprise to hear your mention! All the best and hopefully we will get Rubies in the Rubble to the states soon… for more information on us, please visit our website or to see our youtube video showing how we started in 2010
After doing a waste audit at our local elementary school last year we found that 70% of the dumpster bound discards were compostable food scraps and liquids. We started a composting program. Each day we compost approx. 50 pounds of food scraps—excluding meat and dairy—for a population of about 440 students. That's 9,000 pounds per year not counting liquids. We have done this w/ a small group of parent volunteers and support of school staff. Working on streamlining & district sharing.
fast food places and restaurants etc toss, repeat TOSS, food not bought that day!
Great to see this talk. If you enjoyed this and are interested in learning more about food waste and what can be done about it. Join Food Shift in the movement to end food waste. Food Shift works collaboratively with communities, businesses and governments to develop long-term sustainable solutions to reduce food waste. You can find us on facebook, and twitter.
A bonus of not throwing food out: your garbage doesn't stink. I compost all organic materials, leaving only plastic, clothing unsuitable for charity, and broken items as trash — 1 can every 6 weeks for a family of 3. Food waste in the garbage makes the streets stink on garbage day. It makes landfills off-gas or incinerators burn inefficiently. Sure, not everybody can compost, but it's time to develop policies to deal with not only the waste of edible food, but the waste of inedible food too.
the end of this video is cut off. 🙁