Food habits through waste

Throughout these days I have been monitoring the trash cans in my house, and what objects go in them. The first thing I tried to do was classify the distinct objects in the cans in different categories, depending on what “type” of trash they are. By the third day I was already drawing conclusions. It was easy to notice that around 90% of the trash in my house is related to food. Some questions started to roam in my head. First of all, what does this tell about society’s food consumption? About the food industry and its relationship to waste? Does this mean that the great majority of our habits are related to food?

The food waste in my garbage was about 40% organic waste (fruit peels, eggshells, leftovers, rotten food), and the other 60% was waste either directly or indirectly related to food (plastic wraps, other food packaging, napkins, tetrapacks). The latter is obviously the one that threatens the environment. Definitely most of the non-organic food-related waste, was made out of plastic, raising the question of why is plastic so involved in the food industry? Why is it so ingrained in our habits?  We know how massive the food industry is. It is a basic biological need exploited through the system and capitalism. Most of our eating habits involve waste, even if it is just a napkin or a toothpick. All of this waste ends up in oceans or landfills, having the profound implications we already know on the ecosystem. At least in my household, little is recycled. This is something to have in mind and to question. There are definitely some habits to change. After the week-long observation the main conclusion drawn is that through the massive quantity of this waste we can really put in perspective human relation to food.

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