Humans evolved in Africa, a largely tropical continent, where edible foods are available year-round. If mongongo nuts or protein-rich leaves are not ripe for eating, perhaps the yams, squashes or mangoes are. And cassava is always in season.
The only meat early humans ate came from kills abandoned by lions and leopards. These were found by watching vultures circling the area. Hunting came later when our ancestors began to make stone spear points.
This served us well for thousands of years.
If a large animal like a zebra was killed, our ancestors ate what they could at the site. Then, using stone knives, they cut the meat into strips for sun drying (biltong), preserving it for later.
Anthropologists estimate that 75 per cent of the caloric intake of early humans came from vegetable foods. These were not preserved for future consumption because our ancestors knew where to find them.
When our ancestors migrated out of Africa, they encountered winter, when vegetable foods were scarce or non-existent. Herds of animals were still available for hunting. In summer, they killed young, slower animals. By winter, these had become wilier, faster, harder-to-hunt adults. Moreover, hunting required daylight, but days were shorter.
Survival depended on finding ways to preserve meat for weeks, or even months. As our ancestors pressed farther north, they discovered cold was a good preservative; freezing kept meat edible indefinitely. Freezing is so effective that mammoths, preserved in Arctic ice for 10,000 years, remain edible!
In these chilly lands, our ancestors found “permafrost,” permanently frozen soil. Over much of Ice Age-era Europe, even in summer the permafrost existed just one metre below the surface. Surplus meat could be stored for future consumption in permafrost. As the Ice Age retreated, permafrost disappeared, too, leaving drying as the only means of preservation.
In the Middle Ages, the use of cold to preserve food was only available to the wealthy. They built elaborate underground structures (“ice houses”) where ice could be kept over a summer. In winter, this ice was harvested from ponds, or it was brought down from alpine glaciers.
By the mid-19th century, steam-powered mechanical refrigeration became available. In November 1879, the sailing vessel Strathleven left Sydney, Australia with 40 tonnes of frozen beef. When it arrived three months later in London, the cargo was in good condition.
Between 1922 and 1924, Clarence Birdseye developed and patented methods to freeze foods, meats and vegetables, while preserving their texture. In 1929, Birdseye sold his company, General Foods, to Postum Cereals and went on to manage Postum’s new 'Birds Eye Frosted Foods' division.
In a world where refrigeration was confined to factories like his, the frozen food market was limited.
Birdseye’s success followed his invention of a frozen food display cabinet, and his company’s program to lease the cabinets to retail stores. Birdseye also helped design a refrigerator — with a tiny freezer compartment — for people to frozen foods at home. Older readers may remember these. I know I do!
By 1950, most North American households had one — and a car, too — leading to the “supermarket.” These rapidly became our favourite way to buy food, transforming our society. We abandoned local butchers and green grocers for these large stores, which allowed for one-stop food shopping.
Europe moved to large superstores, too, but perhaps less rapidly than North America.
With refrigerators and cars at home, people began to buy larger quantities of meat, cheese, vegetables, eggs, milk, etc., to last a week or more. Supermarkets stocked large amounts of food, refrigerated to slow spoilage.
These goods were often pre-weighed and packaged for ease of handling. During packaging, “imperfect” apples, cabbages, mushrooms, etc., were discarded before display. Inevitably, a few displayed packages contained a soft apple, or a wilted lettuce which nobody would buy. These were discarded, too.
In the past, supermarkets and wholesalers could ship soft or wilted vegetables and fruit to hog farms, whose animals devoured it. Biosecurity worries stopped that practice decades ago. Now this organic waste goes into the “green bin” for composting. Barrie’s organic waste is carted to Arthur, which is 110 kilometres away. Lots of fuel burned and CO2 produced.
Supermarkets began to expand variety, including dairy foods and prepared meals in fancy packages.
Prepared foods presented an opportunity to build nationwide brands, such as Butterball Turkey, Kraft Foods or Kellogg’s Cereals. To reassure customers who couldn’t see the actual food, the packages were printed with a “best by” date. However, customers buying in quantity often found “outdated” foods in their refrigerators or pantries. While the food was probably fine, many folk discarded it anyway. More waste!
My refugee (from war-torn Poland) parents had known hunger. From an early age, in the mid-1940s, I was expected to eat everything on my plate, often accompanied by the statement: “Finish it all. People are starving in China.” Even as a small boy, I could not understand how food left on my plate could possibly feed hungry people in China.
My Canadian-born wife was also warned not to leave food on her plate. To this day, both of us feel compelled to clean our plates.
However, attitudes began to change. I have seen many people casually scrape uneaten food into the garbage.
We served our children small portions, added more if they asked. Both of us always tried to avoid discarding food. Unserved food was saved for a future “leftovers” meal.
Our supermarkets, fresh from destroying local food shops, began to compete with each other. In an attempt to drive sales, they started offering larger packages as “Jumbo,” “Family Size” or “Club Pack” at a cheaper unit price.
Today, this practice has gone even further with discounts offered if the customer buys two or even three packages at a time. Costco and others even try to persuade us to buy a dozen packages at a time.
It’s easy to see how large-scale buying could leave one with expired “best by” dates. Many people do not trust their senses to check whether the food is edible. They simply toss it.
In total, “western” countries end up wasting 30 per cent to 40 per cent of their foods. As I suggested above, not all of this is discarded from the refrigerator. Some packages are tossed because their “best by” date has expired. Some fresh foods are thrown away because they have wilted or become soft, largely because we bought more than we needed.
We waste far too much, despite our ability to preserve foods by refrigeration. Of course, China isn’t hungry these days, but many Africans are. And a small boy’s question applies here: “How could our surplus food be delivered to hungry people before it has become inedible?”
There is no good answer to this problem. However, the Toronto Star recently described how some European countries began to set out publicly accessible refrigerators — called “Free-Go," based on slang French where a refrigerator is “frigo” — filled with surplus food available to all comers. A single “Free-Go” unit in Geneva, Switzerland saved 3.2 tons of food from the garbage in 2022. Only 3.2 per cent of this donated food had to be thrown away.
Our food banks are not usually equipped for fresh foods. It could be worth trying a “Free-Go” here.
Barrie resident Peter Bursztyn is a self-proclaimed “recovering scientist” who has a passion for all things based in science and the environment. The now-retired former university academic has taught and carried out research at universities in Africa, Britain and Canada. As a member of BarrieToday’s community advisory board, he also writes a semi-regular column. If you have a question Peter might be able to answer or something you’re curious about, email us at [email protected].
