Dear President Elect:

Do you know that Americans waste about 130 billion pounds of food every year? Yet, one in 7 people in America and one in 9 people on earth do not have enough food to lead a healthy active life. Those people don’t always know where their next meal is coming from. As our new President, it’s imperative to stop people from wasting food because it will not just cause many serious problems to our environment, but there are many people in the United States and outside America still facing hunger.

A lot of people don’t know that wasting food contributes to many serious problems in our environment. It contributes to global warming, wastes energy and it pollutes fresh water. According to one source, “the food that ends up in landfills contributes to the release of methane, a major contributor to global warming.” (Bloomberg.com) Some people don’t buy that and don’t think it is a big deal, but global warming is truly contributing to a rise in the sea levels and submerging many lands. The food that we throw out every day will compost and release harmful gasses which can cause global warming. Statistics show that “We currently use about 70 percent of available global freshwater to irrigate crops and produce food”. (Eichenseher) For example, do you know the whole process to produce a single burger takes 660 gallons (2,500 liters) of water? (Los Angeles Times) So we waste fresh water at the same time when we waste food. The total fresh and unpolluted water on earth only accounts for 0.003% of water globally. Water is a finite natural resource so we should treasure this resource. We don’t have that many resources to waste. Growing food costs a lot of money and depletes the land of nutrients, and after we reap those crops for food we throw so much of it away. Almost 1/3 of the food that America produces every year is thrown away. Why are we doing that and how can we put an end to this?

About 14.3% of people in the United States and billions of people in the world are still facing hunger. And people die because of hunger. People say America is a rich country and a land of plenty. That is a reality, yet for 1 in 7 Americans still facing hunger today, that is not their reality. More than 12 million families in America struggle with hunger. (Outnumber Hunger Concert) And at the same time, billions of pounds of food are thrown away every year. People need to realize that every time they throw food away, they are wasting the food that can save a lot of other people's lives. People are dying of hunger at the same time as you are throwing your food away. Imagine how many people could be saved if they got that food!

Some people may argue that throwing food away is necessary to ensure that meals are fresh and flavorful. A survey shows “almost 70 percent threw items away after the package date expired. 60 percent said food waste is necessary to ensure that meals are fresh and flavorful.” However the package data is not that important “Previous research has found package dates to be largely arbitrary and unregulated. The sooner they expire, the sooner you buy more, of course." (Bloomberg.com) There is a lot of food that can still be eaten after the package date expires, and most of the time we can see for ourself if the food is deteriorating. Some foods have much longer shelf lives than the package shows.

As a President and a citizen of Earth, it’s imperative to work to stop people from wasting food. It is contributing to many serious problem to our environment because it contributes to global warming, wastes energy and pollutes fresh water. And there are many people in America and outside America still facing hunger. How can we waste food that can save many people's lives? We need to treasure all the resources that our Mother Earth gives us and take the responsibility to protect our environment.

Sincerely and respectfully,

Xiaohan Yu

Word Cited:

"America Wastes $160 Billion in Food Every Year But Is Too Busy to Stop." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2016.

Eichenseher, Tasha. "Waste Food, Waste Water — A Message From World Water Week." National Geographic Society Blogs. N.p., 29 Aug. 2012. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.

Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.

"Outnumber Hunger Concert!" Outnumber Hunger. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2016.