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So what if you routinely throw out much of the now-rotten food from your fridge? So
everything, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and… Pope Francis.
Rodale News
reports that food waste in the United States (not to mention elsewhere) is getting way out of hand. That is why
the USDA and EPA have teamed up with a new initiative called the "U.S. Food Waste Challenge." This
initiative targets "everyone from farmers to food processors to families in an effort to stem the flow of the 35 billion tons of food that get sent to U.S. landfills every year."
Still reeling from that "35 billion tons"
figure? Then try coming to terms with this: It is estimated that "an
astonishing 40 percent of the food produced in this country [the U. S.] never sees your belly." The amount of energy that was used to produce this wasted food is annually 23 times greater than the amount that was lost during the 2010 BP oil spill. While decomposing within landfills, this wasted food has "20 times more global warming potential than carbon dioxide."
Worse yet, Pope Francis – during a recent United Nations World Environment Day talk in St. Peter's Square – stated the following: Throwing
away food is like stealing from
the table of the poor and the hungry.
The Pope reminded everyone that "our grandparents were very careful not to throw away any leftover food."
He then put this question out to the world: Are we
truly cultivating and caring
for creation? Or are we exploiting and neglecting it?
Resources
http://www.rodalenews.com/epa-food-waste
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/the-pope/10101375/Pope-Francis-says-wasting-food-is-like-stealing-from-the-poor.html
Copyright June 9, 2013 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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