November 1, 2017

November – Reducing Food Waste

When they were satisfied, he told his disciples “gather up the fragments left over so that nothing may be lost.”

John 6:12

 

November’s ACTION is REDUCING FOOD WASTE. Commit to one Action each week this month.  


Let’s ACT together this year to restore the fullness of God’s earth. 

 
One third of the food raised and prepared on the planet does not get consumed, yet over 800 million people worldwide are hungry. The food we waste in landfills produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas 84 times more potent than CO2. Food waste plus growing and distributing it contributes to 4.4 gigatons of CO2 per year. That’s the equivalent of taking 942,184,154 cars off the road a year. People who need food aren’t getting it, and what we waste is heating up the planet! Solution: stop wasting food. It’s easy and something you can do every day to help heal God’s Earth.
 
The Episcopal House of Bishop’s Pastoral Teaching urges every Episcopalian “to acknowledge the urgency of the planetary crisis in which we find ourselves, and to repent of any and all acts of greed, over consumption, and waste that have contributed to it.”
 

For more information and resources, see below.

Are you a Church leader looking to initiate this program as part of a zero waste campaign?  We will have PDF posters from each of our Monthly Actions, that can be downloaded from our “For Leaders” Resource Page.

 

Week 1

  • Plan your meals; buy exactly what you need.

  • Eat leftovers; establish a “week-in-review” meal.

  •  

 Week 2

  • Leave skins on (potatoes, carrots & cukes—more nutrients for you)

  • Buy “ugly” food (food with personality—slightly blemished, crooked, etc.)

Week 3

  • Celebrate Thanksgiving by being grateful for the food you need to nourish your body and not burdening God’s good earth by over-consuming.

  • Use left-overs: can it/freeze it/pickle it/enjoy pie for breakfast!

    Week 4

  • Cut recipes in half if needed.

  • Split a dish in a restaurant.

Bonus Action! Support/volunteer for a food rescue operation  in your area that keeps would-be discarded food out of landfills!

Resources

 

Articles:

Berkenkamp, JoAnne, Hoover, Darby, and Mugica, Yerina.  (October 24, 2017). FoodMatters: What We Waste and How We Can Expand the Amount of Food We Rescue. From https://www.nrdc.org/resources/food-matters-what-we-waste-and-how-we-can-expand-amount-food-we-rescue.

Save the food. (2018). SAVE THE FOOD. COM. From https://www.facebook.com/savethefoodcom/.

 

Web Resources:

Gustavsson, Jenny, Cederberg, Christel, van Otterdijk Robert & Meybeck, Alexandre, (2011). Global food losses and food waste: extent, causes and prevention. From http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/mb060e/mb060e00.pdf.

 

Murdock, Andy, (May 9, 2017). What you need to know about food waste and climate change. From https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/longform/what-you-need-know-about-food-waste-and-climate-change.

 

Videos:

Ad Council. (2016, January 20). The Extraordinary Life and Times of the Strawberry. From http://www.journey2050.com/extraordinary-life-times-strawberry/.

Dailymotion. (2017, May 11) Food waste is the world’s dumbest problem [Video file]. From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RlxySFrkIM.

 

Books

Balz, M. (2017). Composting for a New Generation: Latest Techniques for the Bin and Beyond, Minneapolis: Cool Springs Press.

Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming. (2017). P. Hawken (Ed.). New York: Penguin Books.

This is part of our RESTORING GOD’S EARTH, A YEAR OF PERSONAL ACTION program;  A monthly guide to help individuals learn the many ways they can help care for God’s creation.

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Filed Under: November -, Zero Waste Church