To the Editor:

I buy meats when they’re marked down due to being close to their expiration dates. I cannot fathom the absurd prices especially on beef products so I just pass by.

Do you ever wonder who’s buying these? Obviously, those who can.

However, did you know “in the United States, grocery stores and retailers generate nearly 6 million tons of unsold food annually, with about 30 percent of food in grocery stores being thrown away, according to ReFED.

US retail stores generate about 16 billion pounds of food waste every year. Salads are the food

type thrown away in greatest proportion – more than 45 percent of all food purchased will be

wasted, according to Google.

 So what can be done? Why not lower the prices to sell more rather than throw perfectly good food in their dumpster?! Supply & demand.

In 2016, France passed a law that makes it illegal for large supermarkets to throw away edible food that is approaching its expiration date.

Instead of discarding the food, supermarkets are legally obligated to donate it to charities or

food banks to redistribute the food to those in need.

If the food cannot be donated, it can be used for animal feed, compost or to produce methane fuel, according to Google.

“Approximately 1/3 of food is wasted across the global food supply chain annually; 40% is

wasted in the US annually.

“When we throw food in the trash, we’re throwing away all of the resources that went into

growing, harvesting, packaging and shipping the food such as water, gasoline, land and

pesticides,” according to NPR.

 Pope Francis said “‘Whenever food is thrown out it is as if it were stolen from the table of the poor.’”

So food waste is an issue within our control. We have the power to avoid food waste 3 times a day.

Remember what your parents said: “Eat everything on your plate, there’s people starving all

over the world.”

Chris LaRose

Potsdam