expired date label cannot be donated, it goes to the landfill. Packages that contain large quantities of fresh produce cause waste both at the grocery store and home. At the grocery store, if one potato in a five-pound bag becomes rotten, the whole bag is discarded. Similarly, pre-washed greens in large clamshell packages are tossed away when a couple of leaves look bad. Although some grocery stores repurpose these items for store-made salads, soups, and other ready-to-eat food or donate them to food pantries, a significant number of packaged produce ends up in the landfill. Ready-to-eat food sold at supermarkets is wasted more than anything else. This is especially true for self-serve salad and hot-food bars. Supermarkets want to display full trays of food. Sometimes, they replace trays with the full ones before all food is consumed. What is left in the tray goes in the trash. Health regulations state that once food is made available to the consumer, it cannot be donated or repurposed for consumption. There are other food safety constraints, such as temperature and time. Food can only be in chafing dishes for a limited number of hours before its temperature drops below the required level set by regulations. Supermarkets usually remove the food before this critical time arrives. This is true for both selfserve food and behind-the-counter food; however, employee-handled food can be donated and repurposed. Unfortunately, not every supermarket reuses this food. Even if they do, it may not be all of it. Supermarkets are more hesitant about donating ready-to-eat food as it requires more work for them to pack and refrigerate the surplus food. Lack of partnerships with local soup kitchens makes it more difficult. Some supermarkets are also concerned about liability, because of lack of knowledge about the laws that protect them from liability.
Preparation/cooking Food is wasted during the preparation stage in the kitchens of all types of restaurants, institutions, and homes. Lack of knowledge about how to properly cut, handle, and use ingredients; carelessness; and accidents may cause a significant amount of waste. High staff turnover and lack of proper training increase mishandling. A chef at an institution in Prince George’s County noticed unusual amounts of tomato waste and watched how the kitchen employees cut tomatoes. They were chopping the tops off and discarding them. He asked them to put the discards in a bin. At the end of the week, there were 20 pounds of chopped tomato tops. He turned them into tomato sauce and showed the workers how to cut tomatoes correctly to avoid waste.6 Poor inventory management and purchasing larger than needed quantities of ingredients cause food waste. This problem is augmented at restaurants with extensive menus. If food items on hand cannot be used to create dishes, donated, or stored, they are discarded. Ordering mistakes and food safety concerns also contribute to food waste in the kitchen. Even if every precaution is taken not to waste food, there will still be some waste generated during preparation and cooking. Food scraps, including peels, pits, bones, and egg shells, are considered unavoidable waste and usually cannot be repurposed. However, there are ways, including composting and anaerobic digestion, to divert them from the landfill. If there is no option for diversion, everything ends up in the landfill. In home kitchens, food is wasted in great quantities. Because people are frequently eating at restaurants, the number of people with good cooking skills is diminishing. Simple tricks that help save food and prevent food waste are foreign to many households. Lack of skills may also cause cooking accidents, and food may become inedible. Purchasing more ingredients 6. From an interview conducted for this study.
REDUCE, RECOVER, RECYCLE—FOOD WASTE IN PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY | 2019 19