A recent United Nations-commissioned study reports it’s not Avian Flu or West Nile or any other headline-making malady of the day we should be worrying about– it’s waste. As reported by the BBC, “consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food, 222 million tonnes, as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa.” Kind of makes you lose your appetite, doesn’t it?
Let’s break it down to more (in)digestible numbers: Americans and Europeans squander 200 lbs. of food (which, more often than not, is perfectly good produce) as opposed to a mere 24 lbs. per person in Asia and the sub-Saharan regions. For those who find themselves avoiding the crisper for days on end only to find wilty, past-their-prime heads of lettuce, maybe now’s a time to turn over a new leaf–and perhaps munch on a few, too.
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