Recycled Food

I try to read The Exponent everyday to stay on top of what it going on around campus (and to do the crossword). I came across another article I thought was interesting about the dining halls on campus reducing the amount of waste by reusing more food. Some may say that recycling food is gross, but I was really glad to hear they were making a conscientious effort to decrease waste for several reasons.

First I am used to having leftovers a lot at my home. Reusing the meat for one night’s meal in an omelet for the next night’s meal isn’t nasty to me. Secondly I have been on two mission trips to Jamaica and every time it saddens my heart to see the skinny children, mothers, and fathers everywhere because they cannot afford food. Most Jamaicans eat one meal a day. (We can also look around our own country and see places were food is in need too.) I would have such culture shock when I returned to the States and saw the excessive amount of everything that we have –food, water, clothing, shoes, cars etc. It made it hard to see anything go to waste. But I did realize that by throwing away that brown part of the banana or the crust on my sandwich didn't make me a horrible person. We can all do our part to not be wasteful, but we shouldn’t feel guilty that we were blessed to be born into a “wealthy” land. Lastly I worked as a waitress this summer in a thriving local restaurant in my town. I saw first hand how it is necessary to be resourceful in creating meals and entrées from leftover food. I was amazed many times by the wonderful specials or soups the owner would “makeup” without a recipe using what was left. It is essential for her to be able to survive and make a profit. Also I fully confident in Purdue’s ability to wisely reuse leftovers heating them at the right temperature and knowing when something should be thrown out.

I have wondered about how much food the dining halls waste everyday and how it was sad to see it go to waste. It was encouraging to me to learn from the article that food is recycled and that only a small percentage of the food purchased by the dining halls is thrown away. Considering the amount of food that is made at all the dining halls each day I am sure the waste could be much more. I think it is great the effort Purdue is putting into reusing food.