Essay about Food Waste in grocery stores.
Should be between 6-7 pages without the work cites
Use Rhetorical strategies ( Metaphor, Ethos, Logos, Pathos)
at least two of the food waste or food insecurity articles
at least one credible source from your google search
at least two credible sources from Grossmont’s library database
USe the article “WASTED” by Dana Gunders with Jonathan Bloom Page ( 21& 22)
This is the Easy wasted page 21-22
In 2010, the USDA estimated in-store food losses at 43 billion pounds, equivalent to 10 percent of the total retail food supply. ReFED’s estimate is much lower, at 16 billion pounds. Either way, though, it’s a lot of food.
Perishables—baked goods, produce, meat, seafood, and, increasingly, ready-made foods—represent most of the waste in retail operations. According to the USDA’s analysis of retail losses in 2011 and 2012, produce alone accounts for $15.4 billion in losses annually. Loss rates averaged 12.3 percent for fruit and 11.6 percent for vegetables. That’s enough fruit to meet the government dietary guidelines for more than 5.3 million people and enough vegetables for nearly 3.9 million people every day of the year. Losses vary widely by product type. For instance, the rate was only 2 percent for sweet corn and 4 percent for bananas versus 43 percent for papayas and 63 percent for turnip greens.
The USDA also reports that approximately 2.7 billion pounds of meat, poultry, and seafood are wasted each year at retail, along with nearly 9.3 billion pounds of dairy products. This is enough to meet the dietary guidelines for more than 2.3 million people for meat, poultry, and seafood and nearly 18 million people for dairy.
A survey of supermarket business leaders estimated that 10 percent of revenue is lost to spoilage, age dating, package damage, and markdowns and that large national chains lose closer to 15 percent of revenue. In a separate study, the industry group Food Waste Reduction Alliance (FWRA) estimated retail-level food waste at 0.01 pounds per dollar of company revenue—so a retailer with $1 billion in revenues typically produces 10 million pounds of food waste. Tesco reported levels of waste under 1 percent for almost all retail commodities.
Part of the allure of supermarkets is that they carry a vast array of products at every hour of the day—usually between 15,000 and 60,000 items. While convenient, this bounty presents a challenge for forecasting and inventory management and inevitably leads to waste. Some level of loss is simply considered a part of doing business. Industry executives and managers view a certain level of waste as a sign that a store is meeting quality-control and full-shelf standards, meaning that blemished items are removed and shelves are fully stocked. According to a former president of Trader Joe’s, “The reality as a regional grocery manager is, if you see a store that has really low waste in its perishables, you are worried. If a store has low waste numbers, it can be a sign that they aren’t fully in stock and that the customer experience is suffering.”
page 21
Furthermore, many retail stores operate under the assumption that customers buy more from brimming, fully stocked displays. This leads to overstocking and over-handling by both staff and customers and damages items on the bottom with the accumulated weight.
Overstocked displays are a problem in-store delis and seafood cases as well as in produce sections. By one account, 26 percent of whole fish are not sold, yet, they are steadily stocked because stores like how they look in display cases. A survey of supermarket business leaders estimated that 10 percent of revenue is lost to spoilage, age dating, package damage, and markdowns and that large national chains lose closer to 15 percent of revenue.
Stores are also increasingly offering ready-made food in their delicatessens and buffets. These items make up a significant portion of food lost at supermarkets and convenience stores. If these items are made on-site, they may be able to incorporate marginally damaged or nearly expired products. However, many of these products are made off-site or by outside vendors. As with produce, store managers often feel compelled to ensure these displays remain fresh and fully stocked. Rotisserie chickens, for instance, might be thrown away and replaced after four hours on display. One grocer estimated that his store threw away a full 50 percent of its rotisserie chickens, including many from the last batch of the day.
Retailers also typically discard products two to three days before the dates on their packages. Almost all of this food is still consumable but may have a limited remaining shelf life. In most states, it is not illegal to sell products after the date on the package, but stores don’t do so out of concern that their customers will be turned off. High consumer expectations about produce freshness also lead grocers to discard any items that appear to be past their peak.
Packaging methods can also be a factor in waste levels. For instance, fresh beef placed on a disposable tray and covered in plastic wrap will take on a brown coloring much faster than beef in vacuum packing, which reduces oxygen inside the package. Although the quality of the meat is unaffected, its appearance will typically lead retailers to pull the product from the shelf. Packaging can also protect items, such as produce that is easily damaged from over-handling in the store, and extend shelf life through modified exposure to oxygen and moisture. Although additional packaging can help reduce wasted food and avoid the environmental impacts associated with wasting that food, there are still environmental impacts resulting from that additional packaging.
Products are also discarded due to damaged packaging or concluded promotions. Post-holiday discards, such as Valentine’s Day chocolate, and other seasonally featured products are often without a home after the appropriate season. In addition, many of the 20,000 or so new food products introduced each year may be discarded when they fail to sell.
Gunders, Dana et al. “Wasted: How America Is Losing up to 40 Percent of its Food from
Farm to Fork to Landfill.” NRDC. August 2017, www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files
/wasted-2017-report.pdf.
Introduction (1 paragraph)
Body (5-6 body paragraphs)
Include at least one background paragraph.
Identify some negative consequences,
Include at least four “solutions” paragraphs in which you describe your solutions to this problem. Address the following points to help you develop each “solutions” paragraph:
Identify one of your solutions to the problem.
Explain how this solution could help bring some relief to and help mitigate the problem.
You could also add a counterargument paragraph use “refuting the opponent” rhetorical strategy. Conclusion (1 paragraph)
Works Cited On a separate page, list in alphabetical order all of the sources you quoted and summarized in your essay.
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