The MFJS Reporter — Winter 2020 T-R

40 million people in the United States face hunger on a daily basis. However, 40% of food in our country end up either rotting on a farm or in a landfill. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, most of the waste taking up space in our landfills is organic matter. 

Climate change is becoming a growing concern among new generations, and food waste only fuels this process. The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization reported that food waste contributes 7% of global emissions.

As food waste decomposes in landfills, it emits the greenhouse gas methane, which is deeply harmful to the environment. Food waste also costs businesses millions of dollars in financial losses annually.

Although the issue of food waste exists on a National level, DU students hold strong opinions about what should or should not be done to counteract this problem on campus.

“It feels terrible that I have an excess of food when other people have none at all,” said DU student Ryan Miller.

Miller said that he often sees food in the dining halls go untouched until closing. He assumes that all of the extra food just gets thrown away and goes to waste. 

Miller added, “I try to only buy food that I know I will eat as well as donating my non-perishable items when I’m moving or would otherwise want to throw them away.” 

MIller said that he was deeply concerned about climate change and often made sacrifices in his personal life in order to prioritize sustainability. He concluded that minimizing food waste is one of his goals for the upcoming year.

Zach Undzis, a DCB student held different opinions about the current food waste crisis saying that he was not concerned because there was little he could do about the problem as an individual.

“Other than finishing the food I have there’s nothing I can really do about food waste, it’s an issue that I have no control over,” said Undzis.

He said that although he is aware of climate change, he is not particularly concerned about it because he is just an individual and it is a collective and inevitable issue.

Riley Aronson, a sustainability student, said that she works for a campus organization called Food Recovery Network which actively combats food waste on campus.

“For anyone who cares about climate change, food waste should be a huge concern” she said.

She said that the DU Food Recovery Network actively collects edible food left over from the dining hall and transports it to local food banks. She has been involved with the organization for a year.

“We do everything we can, but we don’t do food rescues every single day and we also don’t always have enough volunteers” said Riley. Because of this, she feels that it is up to us as individuals to try and reduce food waste on our own.

It seems that most DU students care at least somewhat about the effects of climate change. However, people had mixed responses about whether or not they wanted to actively do something about food waste. Also, DU students have organized some level of a solution to counter the accumulation of food waste on campus and redistribute the food to those in need.