- The government of Australia recently launched an advertising campaign aimed at encouraging consumers to buy produce that has been damaged or blighted by the country's drought. It's about time we started valuing this undervalued source of sustenance: according to a recent study, as much as half of the world's food goes to waste.
Anyone who has worked in the industry won't find this the least bit shocking. Just last week there was considerable discussion on the blogosphere about a Whole Foods employee who was reputedly fired for saving one tuna sandwich out of a pile of sandwiches that he was supposed to be throwing away.
Our preference for perfect looking produce--which the Australian ad campaign is trying to counteract--is one of the reasons why our fruits and vegetables are so heavily sprayed: insecticides are a cheap and easy way for producers to meet consumers' demands and expectations.
It's not surprising that it's taken a severe drought to raise awareness about the fact that we're throwing away plenty of perfectly good food. We can only hope that some of this new conservation consciousness will last even after it starts raining again.
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