final essay 500-800 words

ESL 106 – Poupard – Spring 2020 WA 4 – Food Waste

You have read several texts about food waste. Most recently, you have read “Here’s How We Solve Our Food Waste Problem” by Michael Pellman Roland. For this essay assignment, you will summarize and respond to Roland’s article. In your first paragraph, you will summarize Roland’s article. In the next paragraph, you will explain the genre, audience, and purpose of his article. Finally, in the third and final paragraph, you will respond to these questions:

Is the author effective in arguing that his solutions will help alleviate the problem? Why or why not? First begin by stating your overall answer to that question in one sentence. Then explain one main solution he gives to solve the food waste problem. How does he support that point? Then explain why you are or are not convinced by this solution. These questions should be answered in one paragraph.

Genre: Audience- Purpose:

a summary response essay
your professor
to demonstrate that you have read and understood the article, and to demonstrate your critical thinking abilities on this issue.

Content & Organization

1. In paragraph 1, summarize Roland’s article.
   (1) Follow the organization that I have previously given you.
2. In paragraph 2, explain what you think the genre, audience, and purpose are. Be sure to support each of your points. For example, if you think the genre is a blog, state that. Then support how you came to the conclusion that it is a blog. If the web address says “blog,” that’s great. Include that. But also give one or two features that the blog contains that you think represent a blog genre. Do the same for the audience and purpose.
3. In paragraph 3, respond to the questions at the top of this page. Start with one sentence that generally answers the main question. Then explain one solution that the author gives. Explain how he supports that solution. Then explain why you are or are not convinced by this point. Add a sentence at the end to briefly summarize your final point.Length and Format

This will be about 500 – 700 words. It will be formatted like the expository essays that you wrote previously.

that’s the article

Aug 28, 2017,11:00am EDT

Here’s How We Solve Our Food Waste Problem

a

1. 1 Food waste is getting a lot of attention lately, and for good reason. No matter how you slice it,b
   the statistics are downright alarming. The world produces 17% more food than it did 30 yearscago, yet almost half of it never reaches our bellies.d
2. 2 In a way, it’s a testament tothe incredible progress we’ve achieved as a species by producinge
   an overabundanceof food to ensuresurvival. And while we continue to make progress throughtechnology to increase efficiencies in our food system, we’re moving in an unsustainablefdirection, with more and more food being produced while nearly a billion people still don’t have enough to eat.

1. No matter how you slice it – Anyway that you look at it; It’s the same from any perspective
2. downright alarming– very scary
3. bellies – stomachs
4. a testament to– to be evidence for something
5. an overabundance– more than an abundance; more than a lot; an excess
6. unsustainable – not sustainable

1. 3 The most effective way to describe our food waste problem was presented by Tristram Stuart in his viral Ted Talkback in 2012. He assumes that nine slices of bread represent the world’s food supply. Every year, one slice is lost on the farm because of poor handling, lack of sufficient storage, etc. Three slices are fed to animals to produce meat, eggs and cheese. Unfortunately, animals are horribly inefficient when it comes to producing protein, so they replace only onegsliceofbread,andtheothertwosliceswindupaswaste(manure).Thatleavesonlysixslicesof the original nine. Then, we lose two slices to food that ends up in the garbage for various reasons (spoilage, sell-by-date confusion, imperfect appearance, etc.). So in the end, we’re lefthwithfourslicestoconsume.Whatacolossalmess.
2. 4 What makes this so maddening is that we’re not just wasting food that could end global hunger,but we’re burning up the planet’s resources in the process. In the United States, food productionuses 50% of our land, 30% of all energy resources, and swallows 80% of all freshwater (USDA,i
   2016). I was stunnedto discover that food waste is the single largest componentgoing into

jk
municipallandfills, where it emits methane, helping to make landfills the third largest source of

methane in the US. (EPA)
5 Another overlooked aspect of food waste is the opportunity cost. All the labor, water, and

resources used to produce, process, move, package, store, and discard food waste could have

l been used in a multitude of ways that are beneficial to society, while eliminatingthe strain on

our environment. Reducing food losses by just 15 percent would save enough food to feed more than 25 million Americans every year at a time when one in six Americans lack a secure supply of food.

6 So what’s the solution?

The way I see it, we have a number of options to pursue.

m
1. Technology: The food-tech space has been on firelately. The smart minds in silicon

n
valleyandbeyondseethefoodwasteproblemasahugeopportunity.Asaresult,

food-tech raised a record $5.7 billion in ‘15 (CB Insights). Companies like Apeel, Brightfarms, and KDC are providing much needed solutions to cut down on waste and exploitinefficiencies in the system. Amazon just released a new Alexa app ‘save the food.’ Even Anthony Bourdain is getting in on the act with his upcoming documentary on food waste. Fresh food spoilage is a $1 trillion problem (USDA Irrigation and Water Use 2016), and technology has the potential to be a massive influence on reducing that number. If even a quarter of the food currently lost or wasted globally could be saved, it would be enough to feed 870 million hungry people (FAO).

g. wind up(v.) – end up; the final result or final destination of something h. colossal (adj.) – very big; enormous; huge
i. stunned (adj.) – shocked; very surprised
j. municipal (adj.) – a city of a town – it refers to a local government

k. methane (n.) – a gas — CH4

l. the strain on(n.) – the demand on; the damage caused to
m. to be on fire(v. phrase) – very excited and/or very productive
n. silicon valley(n. place) – The part of California where most technology companies are.

It’s a synonym for “the technology industry” or “the computer industry.”

2. Food Policy: A depressing amount of food is thrown away because it’s not pretty enough. At the retail level, large quantities of food are wasted due to quality standards

othat over emphasize appearance (up to 1⁄3 of total food waste). Policies enactedto

p
incentivizecompanies and consumers to make use of this produce could go a long

qwaytowardsfixingthis.Inaddition,establishingpoliciesthatcreateuniformstandards

that reduce confusion around sell-by/expiration dates would help too. We also process

way too much food each year. The US has twice the calories needed for it’s population

on store shelves and in restaurants. We simply can’t eat that much. And if wetake into r

accountthe food that’s wasted by feeding it to animals instead of humans, it rises to s

between 300-400%. On average, dinersleave 17 percent of meals uneaten and less than half of that gets taken home for leftovers (NRDC). This is largely a serving size

tu
problem. Installing portion-control lawsand tacklingthe cronyism that leads to

ineffective food policy would help a great deal, though this might be a tough nut to v

crack.
3. Consumer Behavior: Of all the available solutions to address food waste, changing

our eating habits seems to hold the most promise. Here’s why. It turns out that by simply eating certain foods and avoiding others, we can cut down on a significant amount of waste. Did you know that if all of the crop production currently allocatedto animal feed were directly consumed by humans, global food production would increase by some two billion tons and food calories would increase by 49 percent? Animal products require 4 to 40 times the calories to produce than what they provide in nutrition when eaten, mainly due to the crops they consume. Separately, 40 to 60% of fish get discarded at sea after being caught. Most commercial fishingis done primarily with enormousfishing netsthat sweep up everything in their path. For every pound of fish caught, there is up to five pounds of untargeted species trapped that die as a result. If this continues, our oceans will reach its breaking point.

7 Consumer behavior becomes even more important when considering the projections that, w

barring any shift in diets, worldwide meat consumption could increase 40 percent by 2050. A crucial step in ensuringfood security will be to move away from animal products, thus increasing the efficiency of our food system in terms of calories delivered. A shift from standard to vegetarian diets would have roughly the same impact as eliminatingall retail and consumer level food losses (Faunalytics). Thankfully, we now have companies like Beyond Meat,Daiya and Hampton Creekthat are making it easier to eat sustainably without sacrificing taste.

1. policies enacted– “Policies” are laws or initiatives; “Enacted” is the beginning of a reduced adjective clause. It means “policies that have become law;” Here it’s showing why.
2. incentivize (v.) – to encourage someone to do something (n. – incentives.)
3. uniform (adj.) – consistent; the same, like uniforms.

r. take into account(v. phrase) – to consider; to look at;
s. diners (n.) – people who eat. It has a long i, so it is not pronounced like dinners. t. portion-control laws– laws that control portion sizes

u. tackling (v. tackle) – to try to solve
v. might be a tough nut to crack(idiom) – might be difficult to do
w. barring any shifts in diet– if we don’t change the way that we eat

8 Final Thoughts

When faced with a challenge, one must utilizeevery tool in the shed. Efforts to reduce food waste through technology and better food policies should be combined with efforts to reduce consumption of animals. Collectively, this would mean significant reductions in the carbon footprint of our food system and help to end world hunger. And these opportunities do not require increased yields or serious shifts in production practices. Largely, they depend on improved consumer behaviors. So let’s start changing our diets today. We’ve got no time to waste.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelpellmanrowland… 24d17