#alternate alternate alternate EDITION US عربي (Arabi) Australia Brasil Canada Deutschland España France Ελλάδα (Greece) India Italia 日本 (Japan) 한국 (Korea) Maghreb México Québec (En Francais) South Africa United Kingdom United States The Huffington Post NEWS WorldPost Highline Science Education Weird News Business TestKitchen Tech College Media POLITICS Pollster Election Results Eat the Press HuffPost Hill Candidate Confessional So That Happened ENTERTAINMENT Sports Comedy Celebrity Books Entertainment TV Arts + Culture WELLNESS Healthy Living Travel Style Taste Home Weddings Divorce Sleep WHAT'S WORKING Impact Green Good News Global Health VOICES Black Voices Latino Voices Women Fifty Religion Queer Voices Parents Teen College VIDEO ALL SECTIONS Arts + Culture Black Voices Books Business Candidate Confessional Celebrity College Comedy Crime Divorce Dolce Vita Eat the Press Education Election Results Entertainment Fifty Good News Green Healthy Living Highline Home Horoscopes HuffPost Data HuffPost Hill Impact Latino Voices Media Outspeak Parents Politics Pollster Queer Voices Religion Science Small Business So That Happened Sports Style Taste Tech Teen TestKitchen Travel TV Weddings Weird News Women WorldPost FEATURED Hawaii OWN Quiet Revolution Talk to Me Don't Stress the Mess Endeavor Fearless Dreamers Generation Now Inspiration Generation Paving the Way The Power Of Humanity Sleep + Wellness What's Working: Purpose + Profit What's Working: Small Businesses Generation Now Sponsored by Unilever Meat Eaters Should Have Been Listening To Vegetarians All Along If you can't stop eating meat, at least stop wasting it. 07/25/2016 07:38 am ET | Updated Dec 07, 2016 10k * * * * * Kalya Koltes What's Working Fellow, The Huffington Post Next time you throw out a half-eaten pork chop, keep in mind that you’re wasting a lot more than a dead pig. Meat waste is worse for the environment than vegetable or grain waste because animal-based foods typically require more energy and emit more greenhouse gases, experts say. And in the United States, we waste a lot of meat. According to a recent report from the Department of Agriculture, 13.4 billion pounds of meat and poultry were lost at the retail and consumer level in 2010. Consumers were responsible for more than 11.1 billion pounds of that waste. When looking at these striking numbers, we tend to forget that the hidden resources used to raise the animals go to waste as well ― the fuel, fertilizer, land, feed and water. [578821c11a000024006fa831.jpeg] Bloomberg via Getty Images The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that by 2050, demand for meat will increase by 173 percent. Ronald McGarvey, assistant professor at University of Missouri’s Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering Department, told The Huffington Post just how resource-intensive meat production really is ― and how this has direct consequences on the environment. “When you throw away that pound of beef,” McGarvey said, “you’re essentially throwing away all of the embodied resources that were needed to generate that meat.” Meat waste accounts for 21 percent of food waste’s global carbon footprint, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. And if food waste were a country, the FAO says it would be the third-largest greenhouse gas emitter on earth. Meanwhile, global demand for meat is continually rising: The FAO estimates that by 2050, meat demand will have increased by 173 percent. McGarvey and his colleague Christine Costello published a study on the environmental impact of food waste in 2015, comparing estimated greenhouse gas emissions of food items that were wasted in the kitchen or after meals at dining halls at the University of Missouri. The “meat and protein” category was responsible for the greatest proportion of greenhouse gas emissions, despite ranking fourth in total weight. In a different study, researchers examined the energy use and greenhouse gas emissions of food items produced and transported to a port in Sweden. They found that animal-based foods typically used more energy and emitted more greenhouse gases than plant-based foods. So what can we do to reduce meat waste in everyday situations, when planning a large family meal or a party? McGarvey proposes a simple solution: “Try to err on the low side for meats and have your ‘just in case’ overproduction in plant-based foods. And of course, don’t throw away leftovers, but especially not meat leftovers!” To store your meat leftovers, the USDA recommends cutting large chunks of meat into smaller pieces, sealing them in airtight packaging, and cooling them quickly. Freezing meat is a good long-term option, since frozen foods remain safe indefinitely. And if you’re worried about loss in quality, you can consult these storage times. More stories like this: * We Waste An Insane Amount Of Food. Here’s What You Can Do About It. * This Walmart Worker Threw Away Food On The Job, Then Went Home Hungry * A Whole New Kind Of Grocery Store Is Coming To The U.S. * This Guy Spends $2.75 A Year On Food And Eats Like A King * I Ate Expired Food For A Week And Didn’t Die * The Food Your Grocery Store Doesn't Want You To See Also on HuffPost "Ugly" Vegetables "Ugly" Vegetables * * * * 1 of 9 The Coquette Parsnip (2016) Share this slide: * * * * [576d96b31500002b0073c831.jpeg] Damon Dahlen/Huffington Post More: What's Working Reclaim Food Waste Meat Meat Waste Suggest a correction 1,041 Comments Close [snapchat-QR-f9e427774952023202aa82ff5db0b1b5.png] SUBSCRIBE TO & FOLLOW POLITICS HuffPost Politics brings you the top political stories three days a week. 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