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From Phys.org:
Global food consumption and production is seriously unbalanced. In the UK alone we threw away 4.4 million tonnes of "avoidable" food waste in 2015 – that is food that was edible before it was discarded – which equates to £13 billion worth of food wasted, or £470 per household. Meanwhile, nearly 800 million people globally are chronically undernourished.
The world population is projected to grow to 9 billion people by the middle of this century. We face a huge challenge in finding ways to adequately feed this rapidly growing population whilst also protecting the natural environment.
However it is not just the amount of food production and the balance of its distribution that are key concerns for sustainably feeding the planet. We also need to think about what we are eating.
Presently western diets are characterised by a high proportion of animal foodstuffs, and this is a problem not just for our health, but for the environment. The Hunger Project has cited climate change as one of the hidden sources of hunger. In doing so it highlights how food production and the environment are inextricably linked.
Meat and dairy production requires more land, more water and has higher greenhouse gas emissions than plant based alternatives. As the global population continues to grow, we will need to be ever more prudent with the resources that are required for food production. We must consider whether the proportion of resources currently devoted to meat and dairy production is optimal given the numbers needing to be fed and the environmental impacts such diets can cause.
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Friday June 02 2017, @11:59AM (4 children)
Why it is waste matters.
For me - I have about 1kg (2lbs) of chicken and 2kg of minced meat in my freezer that I will throw out (due to being in the freezer for six months) unless I have my ex over for dinner once a week the next couple of weeks. The reason for that is that 1kg/2kg are the best sized to buy stuff in when I'm in meat-eating mode, but this year I've mainly been eating vegetarian food. So, despite me [possibly] throwing away 1+2kg of meat I still would have a smaller footprint than a person that didn't throw away anything but had meat twice a week.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 02 2017, @12:21PM (1 child)
Actually I once heard that most of the wasted food is not food thrown away by consumers, it's food thrown away by shops because it reached the best-before date before it got sold.
(Score: 2) by gidds on Friday June 02 2017, @02:25PM
Many shops discount food near the sell-by date. And some donate food to charities or similar once it reaches the sell-by date, to avoid wasting it.
I'm sure more could be done in that area, of course; but not all food goes to waste if it's not sold.
[sig redacted]
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday June 02 2017, @06:23PM (1 child)
Make stock! Just simmer it for hours with some herbs and skim the spices off. You can always do something with meat, it's meat.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Aiwendil on Friday June 02 2017, @07:28PM
Well, that would mean I'd have stockcubes to throw away in about a year :)
But other than that it is a good idea, but if I end up in "let's cook with meat"-mode my normal way is to make chicken pie, lasagna, and/or moussaka - all of those can take the freeze/microwave cycle very well if properly portioned before freezing.
And quite frankly - meat is the least versatile base ingredient (then again - I love soy, rice, oats, broccoli and bread; from those you can make good imitations of pretty much anything)