How to Turn the Tables on Food Waste | Dana Gunders | TED

翻译人员: Alvin Lee 校对人员: Bruce Wang

For the past 15 years,

在过去的 15 年里，

I have been obsessed with the amount of food we waste.

我一直关注着 我们浪费了多少食物这件事。

This makes me like the last person anyone wants to have dinner with.

这就导致没有人愿意和我一起吃饭。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Inevitably, we're sitting there at the end of the meal,

不可避免的，在用餐接近尾声时，

they’re pushing food around their plate they don’t want to eat,

他们把不想吃的食物推到盘子边，

and they're looking at me with some awkward excuse.

带着尴尬的歉意看着我。

And I say, look, we can't eat our way out of this.

我说，你们看，光靠吃 是解决不了这个问题的。

This is a systems problem, and it's just way too big.

这是个系统问题，它太大了。

How big?

有多大呢？

Well, picture a farm.

想象有一个农场。

It's the size of the entire United States.

它有整个美国这么大。

It uses three times as much water as the whole country,

它的用水量是整个美国的 3 倍，

and it grows food all year long, and when harvested,

全年都在生产食物， 到收获时，

produces enough to fill 100 tractor trailers every minute all year long.

产量足以在一整年的每分钟里 装满100 辆卡车拖车。

Those trucks then drive, fly, and float all over the world.

这些卡车通过陆海空运往世界各地。

Except instead of going somewhere to be eaten,

但它们被运到后并没有被吃掉，

they go straight to a landfill

而是直接被填埋，

where the food rots and produces methane,

食物在那里腐败产生甲烷，

a powerful greenhouse gas.

甲烷是一种强大的温室气体。

Seems crazy, right?

看起来很疯狂，对吧？

But that's effectively what we're doing.

但事实上我们就是这么做的。

From science experiments in the back of our refrigerators

从冰箱后面的“科学实验”，

to truckloads of products

到那些一车车

that are too close to some arbitrary expiration date,

接近某个随意设定的 过期日期的产品，

globally, one billion meals go uneaten every single day.

全球每天有 10 亿份 餐食未被食用。

That's more than a meal per person

足以发给地球上每一个

for everyone on this planet who faces hunger.

面临饥饿的人不止一份餐食。

Not to mention it's worth one trillion dollars.

更别提它价值 1 万亿美元。

And this whole ridiculous exercise

而且这整个荒谬的做法

has five times the greenhouse gas footprint of the entire aviation industry.

产生的温室气体足迹 是整个航空业的 5 倍。

Now, I know it's not obvious

我知道，看起来不明显，

why food waste would have such a big climate impact,

为什么食品浪费会对气候 产生如此大的冲击，

so let me explain.

下面我会解释。

First, landfills.

首先，填埋。

Landfills are the third-largest source of methane in the US,

填埋是美国第三大甲烷来源，

and almost 60 percent of that methane is coming from food rotting.

而其中差不多 60% 来自食物腐烂。

And as big as that is,

尽管这个数字已经很大了，

it's dwarfed by the huge amount of energy

但跟种植、收获、运输、 冷藏、烹饪食物

and resources it takes to grow,

并将其送到我们餐桌上

harvest, transport, cool, cook food

所需的巨大能源和资源相比

and get it to our tables.

却显得微不足道。

And there's an even larger reason.

还有个更大的原因。

And that's land use.

那就是土地使用。

We are looking ahead at a future in 2050

可以预见的未来是， 到 2050 年，

我们需要的食物 跟 2010 年相比

where it's projected we'll need about 50 percent more food

than we had in 2010.

将增长 50%。

And the question is, where is that food going to come from?

问题是，这些食物从哪里来？

我们是砍伐更多的雨林，

Are we going to cut down more rainforests to grow it,

or are we going to use the food that we already have?

还是使用我们已经有的食物？

Researchers estimate about 20 percent of that gap

研究者们估计， 这个差距中的 20%，

could be met by simply wasting less.

可以仅靠减少浪费来达成。

When I first came across these numbers,

当我第一次看到这些数字时，

I thought to myself, gosh, this is the dumbest problem.

我对自己说，天哪， 这真是个最愚蠢的问题。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And I wanted to know why.

我想知道为什么。

And it turns out, there are all sorts of reasons

结果呢，原因是多种多样的，

that are very different for a strawberry farm in California

加利福尼亚州的草莓农场

than a market in Africa.

和非洲的农贸市场差异明显。

But to give you a sense, here are a few.

但为了给你们一个概念， 我会例举几个原因。

One is we don't measure it, so it's invisible.

一个是我们没有统计它， 所以它是隐形的。

And as we all know, you don't manage what you don't measure.

我们都知道，一个东西没有定量， 就无法进行管理。

Also, in some places, food is relatively cheap

同时，食物在某些地方是很便宜的，

and the fees to throw it away are even cheaper.

而丢掉食物的花费就更少。

In other places,

而在其他一些地方，

就是没有能冷藏食物的设施。

there's simply not the infrastructure to keep food cold.

At times, we're worried about running out

有时候，我们担心食物会不够

because God forbid I don't have enough stuffed mushrooms for everyone.

因为天哪，我必须让每个人 都能吃到足够的酿蘑菇。

And then at other times, we're worried about it making us sick.

而其他时候，我们又担心 太多酿蘑菇会吃坏肚子。

When in doubt, throw it out, right?

那担心的时候，就扔掉呗，是吧？

And then there's my seven-year-old son

然后我 7 岁的儿子

who begs me for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the morning

早上求我给他准备 花生酱和果冻三明治，

and comes home in the afternoon with his lunchbox completely untouched.

结果下午回家一看， 午餐盒连动都没动。

And when I ask him what he ate for lunch, he says,

我问他中午吃的啥，他说，

"Oh, I just talked."

“哦，我聊天来着。”

Now, I don't know what you do about that one.

我真是无语了。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But overall, fixing food waste is not rocket science.

但话说回来，解决食品浪费 又不像发射火箭。

It’s really just about managing our food better, and it’s solvable.

仅仅需要更好地管理我们的食物， 这个问题是可以解决的。

There's a lot we can do in our own lives, and I'll get to that in a bit.

我们在日常生活里可以做很多事， 稍后我会提到。

在食品供应链方面我们也能做很多。

And there is a lot we can do across the food supply chain.

At ReFED, the organization where I work,

在 ReFED， 也就是我工作的地方，

that is entirely dedicated to reducing the amount of food we waste,

我们致力于减少食物浪费，

we have identified over 80 solutions that can help.

我们已经识别出 超过 80 种可行的方案。

Many of them are about prevention,

其中大部分是预防性的，

about making sure that extra food does not occur in the first place,

也就是确保多余的食物 在最开始就不会产生，

which is really our priority

这是我们的首要任务，

because prevention gives you the most bang for your buck,

因为预防在环境和经济方面，

both environmentally and financially.

都能让你获得最大回报。

After that, we look at donating food.

在那之后，我们会考虑捐赠食物。

And, only when that’s been exhausted, at feeding it to animals, composting it,

只有当这个选项用尽后，我们才会考虑 将食物用于动物饲料、堆肥

or other recycling methods.

或其他回收方法。

There are so many successful examples out there of these solutions.

这些解决方案有如此多成功的例子。

One is a Nigerian company called ColdHubs.

其中之一是一家 叫 ColdHubs 的尼日利亚公司。

They build solar-powered cold rooms in markets and farms.

他们在市场和农场 修建太阳能冷藏室。

And in places that don't have electricity

在那些没有电的地方，

这种方式大幅延长了食品的保质期，

this extends shelf life dramatically,

giving farmers more time to sell their product

让农民有更多时间销售产品，

and therefore the ability to fetch a better price.

从而能获得更好的价格。

They have saved thousands of tons of food so far,

到目前为止， 他们已经节约了数万吨食品，

all while increasing farmer incomes by 60 percent.

同时将农民的收入提高了 60%。

Another is Too Good To Go.

另一个是 Too Good To Go。

It's an app that restaurants and grocery stores can use

这是一个面向餐厅 和小超市的 APP，

to discount product at the last minute,

你可以在扔掉临期商品的最后一刻，

before they might otherwise throw it out.

给你的产品打折。

Businesses, they get extra revenue,

商家能赚到额外的利润，

customers score a deal,

客人得到了实惠，

and it has spread like wildfire.

于是这个 APP 迅速走红。

Now in 17 countries,

现在在 17 个国家，

they saved over 100 million meals last year alone.

仅去年一年，就节约了 超过 1 亿份餐食。

From a different angle, there's Compass Group.

而 Compass Group， 则从另一个角度出发。

它是世界上最大的食品服务企业，

It's the largest food service company in the world,

and they are busy trying a lot of unsexy things like tracking their waste,

他们忙于尝试很多无趣的事， 比如追踪他们的浪费情况，

experimenting with smaller containers on buffets

在自助餐上使用更小的容器，

or offering different sized portions so that there's a smaller option

或者提供不同分量的产品， 在你不想要一个巨大的玉米粉卷饼的时候，

if you, say, don't want a massive burrito.

可以选择要一个小的。

They've had a lot of success across the world,

他们在世界范围内取得了很多成功，

even decreasing waste up to 50 percent in some of their largest sites.

甚至在一些最大的市场 将浪费减少了 50%。

These are just a few of the many solutions

正在尝试和测试的解决方案

that are being tried and tested.

还只是一小部分。

Some are high-tech, some are low,

有些科技含量高，有些不需要，

many are win-win -- and they’re starting to work.

很多是双赢的， 而且已经开始发挥作用了。

But it’s not enough, and it’s not fast enough.

但这还远远不够，也不够快。

Countries and companies from around the world

许多国家和公司

have signed on to the UN Sustainable Development Goal

都签署了联合国的可持续发展目标，

to cut food loss and waste in half by 2030.

到 2030 年要将食品损失 和浪费削减一半。

The impact of this goal would be enormous.

这个目标带来的影响将是巨大的。

It could avoid converting an area of land the size of Argentina into agriculture,

它可以避免将相当于 阿根廷面积的土地变成耕地，

saving one-third of the biodiversity that we’re projected to lose

拯救我们预计会损失的 三分之一的生物多样性，

and avoiding as many emissions

并减少巨大的排放，

as taking every single car in the US and Canada off the road would.

相当于让美国和加拿大 所有汽车都停驶。

Yet, despite that incredible potential

然而，抛开那巨大的潜力，

and some beacons of progress,

和已经取得的小小成就，

overall, we are barely moving the needle.

总体而言，我们还有很长的路要走。

And unlike the energy and transportation sectors,

不像能源和运输领域，

食品浪费领域获得的关注和投资 和它展现出来的机会，

attention and investment into food waste have been completely incommensurate

with the opportunity it presents.

是完全不相称的。

There are so many solutions that are working out there.

有如此多有效的解决方案。

Let's inject the funds to really scale them.

让我们投入资金帮助它们扩大规模。

ColdHubs has been quite successful across Nigeria,

Coldhubs 在尼日利亚 取得了很大成功，

but we need that solution in every market without electricity in every country.

但我们在每个国家、 每个没有电的市场都需要它。

Waste tracking, last-minute sale apps

追踪浪费、临期优惠 APP

and other technologies are demonstrating they work.

和其他技术都证明自己 是行之有效的。

Let's provide incentives

让我们提供激励措施，

so that every food business has those at their fingertips.

让每个食品企业 都能轻松获得这些解决方案。

我们也需要投资来刺激新的创新。

And we need investment to spark new innovation as well.

At ReFED, we estimate that for the US alone,

在 ReFED，我们预计仅仅在美国，

it could take 18 billion dollars to fully scale solutions.

就需要 180 亿美元 来实现完整的解决方案。

A large investment.

这是一笔很大的投资。

But when you are throwing hundreds of billions of food away,

但当你意识到我们 正在浪费几千亿美元食物时，

it actually can have a four-to-one return on that investment.

这笔投资能带来 4 倍的回报。

And other incredible benefits,

还有其他很棒的好处，

like providing four billion additional meals in food donations,

比如能增加 40 亿份捐赠餐食，

creating 60,000 jobs,

制造 6 万个工作岗位，

and huge water and greenhouse gas savings.

节约大量的水和减少温室气体排放。

And because so much of the action needs to happen across the food supply chain,

正因为我们需要在整个食品供应链 采取如此多的行动，

we need food businesses to engage and prioritize this work.

我们才需要食品行业 参与进来并视之为优先工作。

They can be doubling down on streamlining their operations

他们可以加倍努力精简运营，

and adopting new solutions as well.

同时也采用新的解决方案。

We also need policy.

我们同要需要制定政策。

Ecuador, Japan, France and 10 states across the US

厄瓜多尔、日本、法国 和美国的 10 个州，

are just some of the places that have laws

是仅有的几个有法律

that restrict food from going to landfills.

禁止填埋食物的地方。

Instead, they provide infrastructure for composting

取而代之的，他们提供 堆肥或者其他循环方式

所需的基础设施，

or other recycling methods,

and that compost then goes on to improve soils

堆肥得到的肥料用于改善土质，

and even sequester carbon, potentially.

甚至还有固碳的潜力。

In addition, in some of those places,

除此之外，这中间有些地方，

食品捐赠有增长，

they're seeing an increase in food donations

and even closer tracking of waste.

对于浪费的追踪也更紧密了。

These laws should be everywhere.

这样的法律应该推广开。

And then there's us.

接下来就是我们。

One of my favorite bumper stickers says:

我最喜欢的一张汽车贴纸上写着：

"Hate traffic?

“讨厌交通拥堵？

You are traffic."

你就是交通。”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Well, we as consumers,

的确，我们作为消费者，

are actually the largest source of food going to waste.

实际上是食物浪费的最大来源。

More than grocery stores, farms or restaurants.

比小超市、农场或者餐厅都要大。

And in the US, as a culture,

并且在美国这已经成为一种文化，

we have also become really numb to it.

我们甚至对此都麻木了。

You know, I could walk down the street and throw half a sandwich on a sidewalk

如果我在街上走， 把半个三明治扔在街边，

and people would think I was crazy.

大家会认为我疯了。

But if I throw that same half sandwich in a garbage can,

但如果我把这半个三明治 扔进垃圾桶，

他们会觉得很正常。

they wouldn't think much of it.

We need to be less accepting as a culture of wasting food,

我们应该对浪费食物 的文化少点接受，

and we need to take steps in our own lives as well.

我们在日常生活中也应该采取行动。

But before I get to that, let me tell you what not to do.

但在讲具体行动前， 我先告诉大家什么不该做。

You are going to go out into the world now,

你们走进真实世界，

and you are going to see food being wasted everywhere.

看到食品浪费无处不在。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And you're going to want to, well, eat it.

你们会想，那我吃掉它们。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

This is not what we're going for, people.

这不是我们要做的，各位。

Trust me, I have tried.

相信我，我已经试过了。

And I don’t think it’s what you’re going for either.

我相信这也不是你们应该做的。

Instead, here are five tips that you can try

相反，这里有 5 个建议，

to manage your food better in your own lives.

你可以试试在生活中 更好地管理食物。

First, shopping.

第一，购物。

Shopping is really where we commit to food,

购物实际上是我们 开始对食物做出承诺的地方，

and so we need to be careful not to overbuy.

因此我们要小心不要过度购买。

Old-school things like shopping lists and meal planning really help.

一些传统的做法，比如购物清单 和餐食计划真的有帮助。

And let me be clear, frozen pizza and takeout are totally legit

我想说明，冷冻披萨和外卖 作为你计划的一部分，

as part of your plan.

是完全合理的。

Next, as I tell my friends at the end of dinner,

下一个，就像我在聚餐结束时 对朋友们说的，

love your leftovers.

请珍惜剩菜，

They are the only true free lunch.

它们才是唯一真正免费的午餐。

And when you get sick of them, you can move on to number three,

如果你吃腻了剩菜， 你可以转到第三条建议，

就是将你的食物冷冻起来。

which is freeze your food.

Your freezer is like a magic pause button,

你的冰柜就像个神奇的暂停按钮，

and so many things can be frozen that you don't think of:

很多东西都可以冻起来， 你可能想都没想过，

bread, milk, cheese

像面包、牛奶、奶酪，

and that half jar of pasta sauce you didn't use.

还有你上次没用完的半罐意面酱。

Next, use it up.

下一点，物尽其用。

In my house,

在我家，

this looks like my husband eating that peanut butter and jelly sandwich

好像是我丈夫最后吃完了 那个花生酱和果冻三明治，

当做他的晚餐。

for dinner.

但对你来说，可能就是把冰箱里 已经有点蔫的

But for you, it might be whipping up a stir fry

with whatever veggies are wilting in your fridge.

无论什么青菜拿出来炒炒。

怎么都好，

Whatever it is,

be sure to shop your fridge before you restock it.

确保在给冰箱补货前， 先把它清空。

And lastly, learn your labels.

最后一点，搞清标签。

"Best by" and "enjoy by" are really just guesstimates of when food is at its best,

“最佳赏味期”只是初略估计出来的 一个食物在最佳状态的时间，

they’re not an indication that it’s gone bad.

并不是食物变质的指标。

So be sure to use your senses before you toss things.

因此在扔掉东西前， 先用你的感官去判断。

这些策略并不是什么 惊天动地的新方法。

These strategies are not Earth-shattering.

They're things that many of our parents and grandparents did.

而是很多我们的父母和祖父母 早就做过的事情。

And you can be sure that my son is learning them as well.

我们也能确保我们的孩子能学会它们。

Because as we tackle this massive climate crisis,

因为我们在应对这场 巨大的气候危机的时候，

reducing food waste really is the low-hanging fruit.

减少食物浪费 真的是很容易摘的那颗水果。

But no matter how sustainably we grow that fruit,

但无论我们在种那颗水果时， 采用了多么可持续的方法，

it's only a good use of resources and nutrition

只有我们努力保证 那颗水果真的被吃掉了，

if we all do our part to make sure that it actually gets eaten.

才对得起那些资源和营养。

Thank you.

谢谢大家。

(Applause)

（掌声）