Food waste a global, and local, problem

By SARA SAXTON/Montana State News

There are 800 million people around the world suffering from hunger, according to National Geographic.

We could feed those 800 million starving people more than twice with the excess 2.9 trillion pounds of food waste we produce annually, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

During the month of April there will be four free showings of a movie called “Just Eat It” in various places in Bozeman. This movie talks about how humans waste 40 percent of what we grow and raise.

The producers of this movie want to know if the food that is being wasted in eatable and if it can be salvaged. A lot of the food that is being wasted is food that grocery stores consider to be crooked and deformed.

Food waste is not only happening in other parts of the world,.It’s also happening in Bozeman.

Vince, an employee from Town and Country Foods, said what the grocery store can’t sell is then later donated to the food bank along with donations made by local customers.

The Gallatin Valley Food Bank comes by Town and Country five days a week to collect unwanted food items.

Town and Country tries to eliminate as much food waste as possible by putting produce products that are bruised or damaged in anyway in a reduced price section after the products have been examined.

“The total pounds of food donated for the year 2015 fiscal year was 24,099 pounds, and a lot of it is donations that we collect,” said Vince.

The movie “Just Eat It” will be showing in celebration of Earth Day.

The movie will be shown at Lone Peak Cinema in Big Sky on April 7, the high school auditorium in Three Forks on April 15, the Procrastinator Theater in Bozeman on April 18, and the Povah Community Center in West Yellowstone on April 2, according to the Gallatin Solid Waste Management District.

– Edited by Alexandra Dubin