“Official surveys indicate that every year more than 350 billion pounds (160 billion kg) of edible food is available for human consumption in the United States. Of that total, nearly 100 billion pounds (45 billion kg) -- including fresh vegetables, fruits, milk, and grain products -- are lost to waste by retailers, restaurants, and consumers.” –Haider Rizvi, Inter Press Service

When only 4 billion pounds of this food is estimated to feed the hungry, a still rising number of 30 million people go hungry in this country on a daily basis, states Food Not Bombs, an advocacy group providing hot meals for the hungry all around the world. There are roughly 700 million hungry human beings around the globe who would have happily accepted this food and according to the UN World Food Program the United State’s leftovers alone could feed entire third world nations.

As the leading contributors to global warming, which we have so suddenly become responsive, we continue to add to the problem by dumping the estimated over 31 billion dollars worth of food, 15% including products still within their expiration date but never opened, into our landfills. When food rots it releases methane. This greenhouse gas, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “is 20 times more damaging to the environment than carbon dioxide (CO2)”.

You alone will throw an estimated 130 pounds of food into our landfills.

There are many food recovery programs that retrieve food from retailers and farms around the country and redistribute them to those in need, but not enough. Your time or donation would be greatly appreciated. Food retrieved is perfectly edible but not sellable, such as food past its “sell-by” date or produce with blemishes that customers refuse to purchase. Gleaning is the process of harvesting leftover crops from farmer’s fields.

My generation has been born into this “throw-away” society. It has become, for most of us, part of our culture and it is hard to swim against the current or change old habits. We were born with our eyes closed. My goal is for this to be an ongoing project, to be more than just art, but a cause and a means of reaching to the public, to my generation. We will someday be the owner of our local businesses or part of the 30 million people going hungry in this country. It is time to open our eyes.

-Pantelis Anastasios Korovilas