The Brown & White

Yesterday for lunch I made myself a tuna fish sandwich; I wasn't that hungry, so I threw half of it away. The gallon of milk in our fridge expired on Monday, so without even bothering to taste it, we tossed it. A slightly stale loaf of bread, bruised apples and expired popcorn made its way to the trash can as well.

Popcorn doesn't even go bad.

Throwing away food isn't just a pastime of me and my food-wasting friends. Americans throw away nearly 31.6 million tons of food a year, according to a 2006 study for the Environmental Protection Agency.

What does that mean? Well, it means we waste almost $600 a year on food - as a country, $43 billion, a professor at the University of Arizona found in a study.

It's an interesting phenomenon. In some countries (even parts of our own, including Bethlehem) people can't afford to eat. But us, we are free to waste as we please.

But wasting is simple and often unintentional. When I was a freshman the dining halls seemed like a feast. Before I got a hang of the buffet-style lines, I'd put as much food on my tray as it could possibly hold: cereal and milk, spaghetti and meatballs, salad, fruit, etc. I'd eat three bites of each plate and then settle for the best tasting option. My peers were doing the exact same thing.

Three years later, I have improved slightly because I have to buy my own food. But perusing the aisles of Wegmans (especially when hungry) always leads to over-purchasing. I buy snacks I don't eat, fruit that goes to waste and meat that expires or gets freezer burn.

It wasn't until I saw an Oprah episode on Freegans that I really thought about food waste. Freegans are a group of people, or rather a counter-culture, dedicated to living a simpler life. Most of their practices are a rejection of American's consumerism - our practice of work, work, work, buy, buy, buy.

Freegans participate in dumpster diving, which is looking through trash cans and dumpers to find food.

Gross? Well yes, it is slightly unappetizing, but what's worse is what they find. Boxes and boxes of uneaten food, loaves of bread untouched, fruit that is in perfectly fine condition, eggs that have one broken shell to a box of 24 - and the list goes on.

When the camera zoomed out to show all the food the people found, it looked like they went on a $200 shopping spree at a gourmet supermarket.

Now, I am not suggesting we should all put on rubber gloves and go peruse the dumpster behind Wegmans, but Freegans certainly prove a point. Americans are wasters.

But we don't have to be this way and we can adapt to fix it.

For a start, the next time I go to Wegmans, I'm going to check the shelves of my house to see what I already have. I will write a shopping list and only purchase what I know I'll eat.

When I cook, I'll save the extra food for leftovers or offer it to my roommates. I won't cook more than I can eat and I won't buy more than I can use.

If you're eating in the dining halls, be smart about it. Don't put that extra spoon of mashed potatoes on your plate unless you think there is a good chance you will have more than two bites.

And Lehigh, don't turn your head away from this problem either. Administrative decisions can improve this problem as well. Make sure the dining halls purchase the appropriate amount of food they need, make sure to use leftovers as often as possible and teach students about wastefulness.

Also, how about a compost site?

Many schools have composts since they understand students, faculty and staff are prone to waste, but that doesn't mean they can't remedy the situation.

All those stretching green fields over on Goodman Campus or the acres of forest Lehigh owns are perfect places for the site.

It doesn't have to be big and it can be far away from all the athletic fields to make sure no one is disturbed by it.

Yes, this would take time. No, it wouldn't take that much money. All you have to do is clear a space for it and drop off the food waste. Simple as pie.

Or, we could continue wasting our food. You decide.

Nicole Falcone is a senior journalism major. She is the managing editor for The Brown and White.