Kathryn Kirby writes..
'Food waste, on the other hand, IS a production issue, and a processing issue, and a consumer issue.'  

and

The above list was just a partial response to a whole string of claims made.  And frankly, this is a big part of why I almost left the list awhile back.  So many statements being made, which sound plausible, but when you live and work in the industry they stand out as being totally unfounded.  I sometimes wonder whether we could devote an entire season of Mythbusters just to the claims made on the list.  I applaud the folks who ask for data, but it's maddening when those same folks then turn around and make unfounded claims of their own.  One of the questions I keep asking myself as I read these messages is "how much time do I want to spend, refuting yet another set of statements?"  In the past, I haven't had the time/energy to spend much time on this at all.  Right now, with the above list, I stand ready to back up every one of those statements if folks really want to see it.  But perhaps folks who are interested, should go look into it in more depth for themselves.  That way, it goes from being an argument, to being educational.  I would only ask that folks stop and think "Ok, how am I going to back up this statement?", BEFORE they make it.

my reply...
to the first snip.... this is quite nicely said.   not all the loss goes to the landfill as someone else seems to wants to suggest.  evidently their definition is extremely limited.  you can of course cut up the pie any way you wish but loss is a multi layered subject... which is to suggest it is not a one dimensional issue.

as to the second snip... it seems some here really doesn't understand that there is all kinds of data and certainly some is more precise than others.  Data for things like food loss are 'estimates' since no one is really counting every grain of corn that a rat might consume or falls off a truck between the combine and the grain bin.

and thank you Kathryn for largely capturing my own criticism of some presumptions made on some post here.  my own estimates were largely from very dated agricultural economic class from four decades ago.  I would suggest anyone that need to refresh their data base could simply call any university with average agriculture economic curriculum and consult with any professor of marketing to see where this issue stands today.  I suspect the numbers have not moved a hairs width even after 4 decades.

I also 'feel your pain' when it comes to answering some questions here when you know pretty well the person you are responding to already has made up their mind and quite likely has a stake in the game.  At the end of the day neither your nor I is someone's 'research monkey' and anyone who has totally made up their mind on any given question no quantity of data will alter their view.  Any expectation or bring such folks around to a larger and more inform view is likely fruitless.

again great post and thanks for the time and effort this response required.

       

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