Happy holy crap how is it December already. Last year this time, my fridge was full and my heart was even more full, spending the holidays with my friends and family. This year... lol.
What does make me happy, though, is writing about this month's topic: food loss and waste during COVID-19. It's ironic because it's not a happy topic, but it made me feel a lot better after understanding why we have the problems we have.
Also, I've been inspired to write about this because of one of my new favorite newsletters: Below the Fold. They cover important stories that don't make the headlines. (Yup, like food waste.)
Here's what I'm telling you in our lil fact snack:
But first, a request: email me and tell me how COVID has changed your relationship with food. This doesn't have to be related to sustainability unless it's relevant to you — I'm just curious!
🎯 Action step 1 of 4: READ — Let's start by looking at a few articles together.
If you want to read this week's recommended article and skip my commentary, here it is.
When we wrote about holiday food waste last year, I discovered a 2016 article claiming turkey - just Thanksgiving turkey - is expected to have an annual waste amount of 200 million pounds. It's $293 million bucks in food waste. So please, gobble it before it gobbles the landfills.
Quick recap of why food waste matters (Source: Holiday food waste edition)
Highlighted article: How food waste has gotten worse during COVID (Source: the problem of food waste)
The stages of food production (Source: COVID's impact along the food supply chain)
Why we're in such a food mess (Source: Farmers are destroying mountains of food)
🏁 Checkpoint: This is the end of action step 1 of 4: READ.
🎯 Action step 2 of 4: LISTEN — we'll watch a short video or listen to a podcast to further expand on our topic.
In this Listen module, I'm sharing a 2-min video on sustainable food production. All you have to do today is watch it by clicking below!
Check it out — it's only 2 minutes long and it tells you:
🏁 Checkpoint: This is the end of action step 2 of 4: LISTEN.
🎯 Action step 3 of 4: ACT — Now it's time to do something. Let's go!
Here's what to do to fight food waste. Pick 1-2 that work best for you:
I highly recommend checking out the food waste actions we published last December for 9 more actions and 3 recipes. The recipes were inspired by an IG poll of what our readers said they wasted most of. That's it for today once you save the reminder.
🏁 Checkpoint: This is the end of action step 3 of 4: ACT.
Before we go any further, it's time for you to pledge your commitment. It takes less than 30 seconds to pledge and we can bother you about it in a friendly way, so we can hold each other accountable. Pledge here!
🎯 Action step 4 of 4: REFLECT — what can you commit to? What fresh perspectives can we look at?
Today, I want you to check outNational Geographic's 5-step plan on how we're going to feed 9 billion people.
☃️I know most of y'all are checked out so here's what Nat Geo's up to. They say, "By 2050 we’ll need to feed two billion more people. How can we do that without overwhelming the planet?"
Five-step plan, with two actions you can take at the end:
🏁 Checkpoint: This is the end of action step 4 of 4: REFLECT.
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