Cutting down on wasted food can lead to energy savings

FAITH LAPIDUS:This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Faith Lapidus. BOB DOUGHTY:And I'm Bob Doughty. Today, we will explain how cutting down on wasted food could lead to energy savings. BOB DOUGHTY:Do not waste food, and you will save energy. That is the message of scientists who say America wastes food energy equal to about three hundred fifty million barrels of oil a year. That represents about two percent of yearly energy usage in the United States. Scientists Amanda Cuellar and Michael Webber work at The University of Texas at Austin. They reported the findings last month in the journal "Environmental Science & Technology." Mr. Webber says a lot more energy goes into food than people think. His report estimates that, three years ago, between eight and sixteen percent of all energy used in the United States supported food production. FAITH LAPIDUS:The Texas researchers estimated the energy intensity of preparing food from agriculture, transportation, processing and food sales. They also included the energy intensity of storing and preparing food. The researchers measured food intensity in British thermal units, better known as BTUs. A BTU is the amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of about one-half kilogram of a substance by one degree Fahrenheit. The scientists say they used information provided by the United States government from nineteen-ninety-five. At that time, the government estimated that twenty-seven percent of food for human consumption was wasted. BOB DOUGHTY:The report said the most wasted foods were dairy products, eggs, fats, grains and oils. Among the least wasted were dry beans, fish, lentils, meat, poultry, peanuts, peas and tree nuts. Last year, a report in the journal PLoS One considered the environmental effects of wasting food. Scientists from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases measured the energy content of America's wasted food. They found that American waste of food per person has risen by about fifty percent since nineteen seventy-four. FAITH LAPIDUS:This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Jerilyn Watson, Caty Weaver and June Simms, who was also our producer. I'm Faith Lapidus. BOB DOUGHTY:And I'm Bob Doughty. Listen again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America. Source: Voice of America