I’ll bet you’ve experienced this scenario countless times:
You go to grab something out of the fridge, but there’s a little voice of doubt in your head: I bought this a while ago…is it even still good?
The smart thing to do is find the expiration date. But instead, you discover a vague phrase like “sell by,” “use by,” or “best by” that doesn’t clarify if the food is actually safe to eat.
So, you have three options:
- Brace yourself and take a sniff
- Eat it and hope for the best, or,
- Err on the side of caution and throw the food (and your hard-earned money) in the trash
80% of Americans throw out food for this exact reason. Add up a carton of milk here, a bag of spinach there…and bam, American households waste a combined 42 billion pounds of food every year.
Earlier this week, a bipartisan group of legislators reintroduced the Food Date Labeling Act, which I was proud to co-sponsor last year. The bill proposes a clear and consistent national food labeling system to help consumers decide what food is safe to eat, and prevent perfectly good food from being thrown out.
Not only will this bill help households save thousands on wasted food purchases every year, it could be game-changing for our national fight against climate change.
Before I break down the science-y stuff, I’m on a mission to get my colleagues in Congress to treat the climate crisis with the seriousness it deserves. Will you chip in $15 to stand by me in this fight?
The chemistry of food waste:
When we throw away food, it goes to the landfill, where the conditions prevent it from breaking down normally. Instead, food rots and produces methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas that causes climate warming.
The methane emissions that come out of our landfills every year are the climate equivalent of adding over 23 million more cars to our roads. (I shudder to imagine the hypothetical traffic.)
Seriously, folks, food waste due to bad labelling is one those very rare problems that has a simple, obvious, and cheap solution. This is the kind of work that Congress needs to do more of, instead of engaging in culture wars and political pageantry.
I’m committed to making tangible progress for the people of IL-06; will you pitch in $15 to help me get it done?
Together,
Sean Casten
P.S. For more information on how you can reduce food waste at home, check out this guide from the EPA.
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