Environmental Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Environmental Economics - Essay Example The article, Food Waste Is Becoming Serious Economic and Environmental Issue, Report Says, was authored by Ron Nixon and published in The New York Times on February 25, 2015. The article provides research findings on the huge impact of food waste on the economy and the environment. The figures used include United States wasting food valued at $162 billion and amounting to 60 million metric tons and that 1/3 of food produced globally is not consumed but end up as waste costing $400 billion annually. A reduction in food waste, according to the article of between 20 and 50 percent by 20130 would result in saving of between $120 and $300 billion annually (Ron, Par. 4). The article projects an increase of food waste cost to $600 billion if the problem is not tamed and links the contribution of food waste to climate change owing to the use of fertilizer, water, and land in vast amounts in food production (Ron, Par. 8). Food waste relates to global change through the decomposition in landfi lls resulting in the production of methane amounting to 3.3 billion metric tons in a yearly (Ron, Par. 9). That is 7% of world’s greenhouse gas emission only surpassed by China and the United States, depicted the high global warming effects it results and the cost in millions of food waste. The article then provides measures being taken to combat the issue of food waste including the provision of grants to consumers and local businesses and non-profits for recycling of food waste to compost in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Clarifying expiration dates, sale of small amounts of food, donation of excess food, and changing manufacturing processes are some of the measures being taken to reduce food waste. Economics plays an important role in the food waste problem where there is a demand for food with 870 million people going hungry while food is wasted in industrialized countries. The concepts of the scarcity of resources and distribution of wealth and resources globally