We love finding other people, businesses, and organizations who care about similar things we do, so we were really excited to stumble upon Second Chance Foods for the first time last week. Their shop is full of food that might otherwise go to waste: overstock, discontinued items, products in damaged packaging, etc. And while we love to eat local and buy package-free, we know that's not always realistic. There are a lot of ways to make our food systems more sustainable—and Second Chance helps makes one of those easier by rescuing food that would otherwise go to waste.
The statistics on food waste are staggering. Thirty to forty percent of food grown in the U.S. goes uneaten. The average American throws away nearly 220 lbs. of food per year, and the average family of four spends about $1,500 on food they do not eat. Almost all of that (96%) goes to the landfill, where it emits methane—a major contributor to global warming. Landfills are the third-largest, human-related source of methane emissions in the U.S., and food waste is responsible for over half of those emissions.
You can find lots more to read on this topic online...or spare yourself the outrage and simply make a resolution to cut down your carbon footprint by reducing food waste wherever you can. A good first step is giving Second Chance a try!
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