Food Waste and the Clean Plate Club

If you were a child growing up in America—especially a child of a child of the Great Depression, as am I—it’s likely that you have been told to “clean your plate, because a child in (a developing nation) is starving.”

I never could quite make the correlation between my eating all the food on my plate and feeding the hungry in distant lands, but I complied, and now I am wearing those food scraps on my hips.

Even today I cannot leave food on a plate, so I either adjust my portions or take home “doggie bags.” Still not sure how that feeds hungry children thousands of miles away, but I certainly have internalized a value for things made and a distaste for waste.

Gail Tavill, vice president of sustainable development for ConAgra Foods, headed up the giant food processing manufacturer’s ambitious sustainable packaging initiatives, highlighted in the cover story, “Sustainable food packaging: preserve and protect,” p. 18. Tavill said that while researching sustainable packaging approaches, she uncovered the monumental problem of food waste. Estimates are that roughly 35 to 50 percent of food goes to waste in the U.S.

“Food waste is at a crisis level, and packaging can be part of the solution,” she relayed. Well-designed packaging can help by right-sizing portions, preserving food, and enhancing food taste.

Energy Wasted, Redirected

A strong correlation can easily be made between managing energy well and improving the environment.

As the country’s and the world’s populations grow and expand their appetites for energy-consuming devices and equipment, energy supplies are being stretched to their limits. In a previous era, the logical next steps would be to build more power plants and distribution networks, but in today’s eco- and cost-conscious era, no one wants a new coal-fired plant built, even a modern, cleaner-operating one. So the current effort underway is on reducing and managing energy consumption to make the basket of loaves go further (see “Global energy management practices, standards increase plant profitability, and “Getting in tune with reduced harmonics). Details regarding the Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative can be found here.

Biodiversity, Biodynamics

One of the more intriguing macro concepts floating in the ecosphere is that of biodynamics, highlighted in “Green winery, no matter the hue of the grape,” p. 54. Parducci Wine Cellars embraces the concept, using natural fertilizers and the harmonious coexistence of “beneficial” insects and plants, wildflowers, and viticulture.

Essentially, the concept asserts that all life is connected. One’s actions affect the entire ecosystem, and so it is optimal to manage, even encourage that interdependence to achieve balance and longevity.

Sideways to the Great Polluter

I have often heard objections to environmentalism from those who cite China’s well-documented industrial pollution as a reason not to bother with ecoefforts. This is where environmental co-dependence can be especially troubling, because it’s true that one’s efforts here to mitigate climate change can be spoiled by actions over there.

A startling and visible demonstration of how far-reaching climactic events can be came last June in the form of a 66-foot-long dock that traveled 5,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean and washed ashore in Oregon, a remnant of the Japanese tsunami.

Clearly, consistent environmental progress requires a concerted effort from all in the food chain, from suppliers to customers, large and small, in all regions of the world. So, is it sage to wait until everyone else is seated at the table of ecoresponsibility?

Tim Thornhill, co-owner of the sustainable, organic, and biodynamic Parducci Wine Cellars, wants his extreme green efforts to serve as leadership, and takes this approach to the issue: “I

just run out ahead and hope my competitors try to catch up.”