Driving Out Hunger
Did you know that 30-40% of the food produced in America ends up in landfills? When numbers are this staggering, it's easy to assume that big companies are generating it. But 43% of food waste is actually thrown out at home. Couple this with escalating rates of food insecurity spurred by the pandemic and we have a major disconnect. The New York Timesrecently reported that one in 10 households report they lack enough to eat. And yet so much food is going to waste. Pictures of miles-long lines at food banks have made headlines for the last year. One very scary part of this equation is the changing face of hunger. Families are finding themselves at food banks for the first time because they've lost their jobs in hospitality, entertainment or retail. And with schools closed for Covid, students who relied on cafeteria breakfast and lunch are going without. When families have to choose between paying the rent or buying groceries, we are failing as a society. When they don't have access to fresh, nutritious food because they live in food deserts, we are in crisis. There are direct correlations between food insecurity and increasing rates of obesity and a wide range of cancers. Fast food is easy and cheap. But it's killing us. With all that said, if you want to help, it's hard to know where to start. Do you write a check(as little as $20 can feed 100), volunteer (Second Helpings has a 90-minute model) or start a revolution? We're celebrating Earth Day all month long. And with that, we are shining a light on one very cool way in which you can do your part to help eliminate food waste. Check out Second Helpings Atlanta's Zero Waste Cooking Classes below. They're every Sunday at 5 p.m. throughout the month. You can learn how to render a chicken stock from roasted chicken, shrimp stock from shrimp shells or a bake pie crust with dehydrated orange rind. Interested in more Zero Waste recipes from chefs like Todd Ginsberg, Mitchell Anderson and Annette Joseph? CLICK HERE. Sometimes it's the little things that can push the needle in a major way. Curbing your food waste keeps it out of landfills, but for those things you just need to toss, consider composting. We're obsessed with an amazing company here called Compost Now which provides you with a bin and hauls off your food waste every week. Then on request, they'll bring you back the compost. Guess what you can do with that compost? Read on for information on Robin Pollack's gardening class later this month. There are so many ways to do your part. We think Zero Waste Cooking Classes are a delicious start.