Strickland 1

Mary Strickland

Mrs. Davis

Comp. II

28 May 2017

Annotated Bibliography

Eatfortheearth. "Food Waste: Causes, Effects, and Solutions." Farm Together Now - The Book

and Blog. N.p., 08 Nov. 2014. Web. 28 May 2017.

In this article, the writer EatFortheEarth discusses the impact of throwing away foods can

have on not only loss of money, but the harmful effects tossing out food has on the

environment. The author also discusses that Americans throw away almost 40% of the

food they purchase which results in $2.6 trillion loss between the wasted food and the

damages those foods do to our environment. EatfortheEarth has written at least 3 articles

addressing the issue of food waste. She composed this article in 2014 and used citations

such as Food and Agriculture Organizaion (FAO) statistics from 2009 to support her

thoughts on the issue and has interviewed a hand full of farms to get their take on how to

improve food waste statistics. The FAO sources are unbiased facts concluded from

gathering data; however, the interview with the farmer is biased. Thus, her article does

seem to be biased. The statistics in this article are very reliable and will be an enormous

supporting component in my paper because of the solid facts pertaining to the money lost

and damage done to earth when food is wasted.

Hickey, Michael E., and Gulnihal Ozbay. Food waste in the United States: A contributing factor
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toward environmental instability. Frontiers, Frontiers, 8 Nov. 2014, journal.frontiersin.org.

Accessed 28 May 2017.

Hickey and Ozbay have written an article that reports that America is the second most

obese country in the world, yet we still waste approximately $166 million in food each year.

It is shown that 25% of the worlds food is lost post-harvest related to microbial spoilage

and if we as consumers could decrease the waste by even 15%, it would literally feed 25

million people. The authors suggest finding a way to increase shelf life of healthy, perishable

foods as a solution. Hickey is a Masters student at the University of Delaware earning a

degree in Agricultural Science. The co-author is Ozbay. She is professor at the university.

These two have done extensive research into the matter of food waste as well as similar

problems. The authors use many sources in this 2014 article. The most reputable source is

the FAO which they refer to often. Others include publications of other authors that are

based off similar sources. Although the authors are biased, I believe their attention to details

and numbers will help legitimize my paper.

Lee, Emily. 10 Easy Ways to Reduce Food Waste at Home : Food Network. FN Dish Food

Network Blog, 22 Apr. 2017, blog.foodnetwork.com. Accessed 28 May 2017.

Instead of discussing all of the global and financial problems food waste is causing, Emily

Lee goes over solutions to these problems that a person can help with on a daily basis to

do their part. A few she lists: use a reusable bag when you go shopping, only shop with a

list in hand, do not buy more than need or more than what you know you can eat. Emily Lee

is an author for the Food Network and writes about various aspects of food production and

waste. She does not use sources as she is giving people ideas of how to reduce the waste

of food. Her articles get a large amount of views because of her association with The Food

Network. This piece is not biased and is a reliable source. Her tips will help me give readers

idea as to how to help solve the ever-growing issue of food waste.

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Leonard, Annie. The Hidden Consequences of Food Waste. The Huffington Post,

TheHuffingtonPost.com, 11 July 2016, www.huffingtonpost.com. Accessed 28 May 2017.

Annie Leonard addresses more than just the money loss of food waste. She digs much

deeper and points out that many snack foods are made from palm oil which is being

harvested in other counties. Annie is concerned with this example and others that are

similar, such as destruction of rainforest for cattle grazing, because we are harming a large

majority of rainforests for palm oil when about 40% of those products are thrown out. Not

only has the article been written within the last year, but the information she based her

figures above on are from research done by greenpeace.org which specializes in issues

such as these and she is the director of. The article is biased since Annie is an

environmental activist but has so many amazing points that will benefit my paper. I plan to

use the examples above to show people that it is more than just a snack cake tossed in to

the trash when you waste food.

Pothukuchi, Kameshwari, and Jerome L. Kaufman. The Food System. Journal of the American

Planning Association, vol. 66, no. 2, 2011, pp. 113124., doi:10.1080/01944360008976093.

Kameshwari Pothukuchi and Jerome Kaufman reports in this journal that landfills have

grown larger by 15% in the last 10 years partially due to consumers over buying food, thus

these landfills take up area that could have been used for farming. The authors also suggest

that part of the food we are wasting be donated instead to food panties, homeless shelters

or food banks. This give lower income families access in their time of need and helps with

the ever-growing problem of goods being tossed out. Between the two authors, they have

written at least 4 journal pieces that address the issue of food waste and lack of planning

for proper disposable. They use over 30 citations to compose this journal and some of

these include highly reputable sources such as: Oxford University Press and U.S.
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Government Printing Office. The two keep a very unbiased tone throughout this piece as it

is mainly fact biased. I will use their suggestions on reducing food loss by donating to local

organizations in my paper.

Reducing Wasted Food At Home. EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 17 Apr. 2017,

A couple ways mentioned to help with the food waste issues, which I favored, are conservation of

energy and resources from growing, transporting and manufacturing food, supporting fellow

community members whom are less fortunate, saving a persons bank account and lowers

individuals carbon foot print. Also, befriend your freezer. I like this one. Items like meats and

breads can be put into the freeze, thawed later and cooked. For those perishable items, the person

will cook them first, then freeze them. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) is a well-known, pivotal

agency which promotes well-being for crops, land, air clarity, water and multiple other aspects of

the environment, so they are an incredibly reputable source. Also, it was published last month

meaning all the facts are up to date!

Sustainability Pathways: Food loss and waste. Sustainability Pathways: Food loss and waste, 9

Sept. 2013, www.fao.org. Accessed 28 May 2017.

The FAO argues that the number one way to combat food waste is to raise awareness of

the issue. The FAO does mention that food waste can be either accidental or on purpose,

unlike the other articles. This article says that times when bananas fall out of a truck, for

example, is marked as food waste. This is an issue on the manufacturing side, so does not

influence household waste. However, a person dropping and busting a jar of pickles on the

way home is a similar scenario. This is also accounted for as food waste. The FAO plays the

role as a facilitator and a neutral power. I am not sure if it is biased or not. The FAO is
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biased, leaning toward the side that says food waste is an issue and needs to be resolved.

This article was published in 2013 so I believe it has many relevant points and is a very well-

known, reputable source to aid in influencing readers.

Times, The New York. Tips to Reduce Food Waste. The New York Times, The New York

Times, 3 Mar. 2015, www.nytimes.com. Accessed 28 May 2017.

In this article about food waste, the author gives fantastic advice on how to reduce this

issue. He recommends wrapping lettuce and cucumbers in paper towels before putting

them in the refrigerator, for example. Do not over fill the crispergive the vegetables

room to breathe, the article says. The New York Times even gives fabulous recipes for

items that are one the verge of spoiling. The New York Times is a best-selling magazine

that reaches many, many people. Their facts are checked and from dependable sources.

This was released in The New York Times in 2015 and is a biased piece. I plan to add

these suggestions into my paper to help promote food preservation.

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Outline

Attention Getting Statement: I toss $25 in the trash can on a weekly basis, but Im not worried
about it because so do other Americans.

Thesis Statement: After researching food waste, Ive found the statistics related to this issue, the
damages this is causing to earth and our environment as well as solutions to aid in resolving the
amount of food wasted per household.

Body Paragraph 1:
I. Topic Sentence: There is an overwhelming amount of research being done on the

amount of food being wasted in each household.

A. First subtopic: Percentage of food wasted

1. Evidence: FAO numbers

2. Follow Up: FAO reports that 40% of the food purchased by Americans goes to

waste.

B. Second subtopic: Frontiers article

1. Evidence: $166 trillion dollars is wasted each year

2. Follow Up: This number is a total of world-wide food waste and America makes

up 40% of that!

C. Third subtopic: The Food System

1. Evidence: If we reduced the amount of consumer food waste going in to landfills

by even 15%, in essence we would have enough food to feed 25 million people. Yes, 25

million people!

2. Follow Up: This is a huge amount of people but chances of us getting the food to

those people is not likely.

Concluding Sentence: The amount of food waste is appalling. These statistics could
easily be changed if we are more conscientious of our waste.
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Body Paragraph 2: Damage! Damage! Damage!

Topic Sentence + transition: It is not only wasting money when we waste food, it is
harmful in more ways than we think.
II.

A. First subtopic sentence: The food we waste generally goes into a landfill. So what?

Food decomposes, right? Well it does but not without emitting gases.

1. Evidence: When food decomposes it omits methane, according to EPA.

2. Follow Up: This gas is responsible for the greenhouse effect. This gas is 28-36

times more powerful than CO2 at trapping heat into the environment.

B. Second subtopic sentence: Methane is not the only culprit for environmental damage.

1. Evidence: Palm oil is a popular ingredient in snack foods. This oil is harvested

from tropical forests in Kenya.

2. Follow Up: If we are wasting those foods then we are essentially killing part

of those trees for nothing.

C. Third subtopic sentence: Also in Kenya, tropical forests are cut down to make room to

allow for cattle grazing.

Concluding Sentence: The problems listed above go much, much deeper than just losing
money. So, if that isnt enough reason to help solve the issue then I dont know what is.

Body Paragraph 3:

III. Topic Sentence + transition: There are numerous simple solutions to help reduce

food waste in the household.

A. First subtopic sentence: The conscious effort to lower the amount of food wasted

starts before the consumer gets to the store.

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1. Evidence: Consumers can make a list of meals they plan to cook, as suggested by

The Food Network article.

2. Follow Up: Making a list can help discourage the thoughts of impulse buying of

items that are not needed while in the store thus reducing food waste.

B. Second subtopic sentence: Preparing or freezing the perishable foods purchased can

extent their lives and give consumers a better chance to eat them.

1. Evidence: By freezing bread, meat and dessert, they stay edible longer.

2. Follow Up: Also, cooking meals out of perishable items and then freezing that

meal for later use can save those items on the verge of spoiling.

C. Third subtopic sentence: So, if I dont need the item or no one in my family like it,

what do I do?

1. Evidence: The best option, that is often overlooked, is to donate the items not

used.

2. Follow Up: There are a multitude of people who would like to have that can of

beans getting tossed out because no one likes them. It is a fantastic idea to help fellow

community members.

Concluding Sentence: By helping reduce food waste in each individual household, it will
lower the percentage of food waste nationwide, not to mention potentially feed low income
families.

Paragraph IV: In conclusion, the number of food wasted in America is atrocious! There are many

ways to help reduce this overwhelming statistic as well as decrease the harm being done to the

earth and environment. Whether this is accomplished by making a shopping list, donating food
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or preparing/freeze it, we all need to make an effort to decrease the amount of methane being

emitted from landfills and the number of trees being destroyed just to have 40% of it wasted.
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Works Cited

Eatfortheearth. "Food Waste: Causes, Effects, and Solutions." Farm Together Now - The Book

and Blog. N.p., 08 Nov. 2014. Web. 28 May 2017.

Hickey, Michael E., and Gulnihal Ozbay. Food waste in the United States: A contributing factor

toward environmental instability. Frontiers, Frontiers, 8 Nov. 2014, journal.frontiersin.org.

Accessed 28 May 2017.

Lee, Emily. 10 Easy Ways to Reduce Food Waste at Home : Food Network. FN Dish Food

Network Blog, 22 Apr. 2017, blog.foodnetwork.com. Accessed 28 May 2017.

Leonard, Annie. The Hidden Consequences of Food Waste. The Huffington Post,

TheHuffingtonPost.com, 11 July 2016, www.huffingtonpost.com. Accessed 28 May 2017.

Pothukuchi, Kameshwari, and Jerome L. Kaufman. The Food System. Journal of the American

Planning Association, vol. 66, no. 2, 2011, pp. 113124., doi:10.1080/01944360008976093.

Reducing Wasted Food At Home. EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 17 Apr. 2017,

www.epa.gov. Accessed 28 May 2017.

Sustainability Pathways: Food loss and waste. Sustainability Pathways: Food loss and waste, 9

Sept. 2013, www.fao.org. Accessed 28 May 2017.

Times, The New York. Tips to Reduce Food Waste. The New York Times, The New York
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Times, 3 Mar. 2015, www.nytimes.com. Accessed 28 May 2017.