But while tackling the issue of
food waste, it’s important to consider how doing so could have some
unintended, negative consequences for the natural world, says
Professor Iain Gordon, deputy vice chancellor
of tropical environments and societies at Australia’s James Cook
University.
Gordon, who has spent his
career studying biodiversity and promoting sustainable land use,
has researched how some animal species —
particularly birds — have become
dependent on human food waste. Reducing food waste without
taking that into consideration, he says, could have
devastating consequences for those species.
In many cases, Gordon says, the
animals became dependent on food sources like landfills in the
first place because humans destroyed their habitat or depleted
their natural food sources.
“For species such as the white
ibis in Australia the use of landfill sites correlates with the
reduction in the wetland habitats that ibis naturally use and also
prolonged droughts, which reduced the area of wetlands,” he told
The Huffington Post in an email. “For other species such as gulls
it may relate to our overharvesting of fish species that would have
been the normal prey.”
In some cases, the abundance of
human food waste has even altered the natural behavior patterns of
birds. A March study led by a U.K. scientist found that white
storks in Europe, which previously migrated to Africa for the
winter, have started staying in Spain and Portugal year-round
because they are “addicted” to the “junk food” they eat at
landfills in those countries.
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Even the majestic bald eagle
hasn’t been immune to the lures of landfills — which Gordon notes
is an “easy food source” for the birds of prey.
“They appear to feed on red meat
and bones and even prey on other birds and rats on the landfill
sites,” he said. “Evidence suggests particularly young birds use
landfills and there may be individual variation such that some
birds become landfill specialists.”
Sight and sounds from
Tomoka Landfill, home of hundreds of birds and dumping ground for
1,500 tons of garbage each day. Video by Ron Hurtibise
All that said, Gordon stressed
that he was by no means suggesting that people keep wasting food.
Reducing food waste sent to landfills is overall a good thing for
biodiversity. Among other benefits, cutting down on excess food
production reduces pressure on land to produce food and reduces
pollution, he noted.
A bald eagle in flight. It’s
unclear whether this bird is a “landfill specialist,” but
some eagles use landfills as an easy way to get
food. Jupiterimages via Getty Images
Instead, Gordon said, we should
be researching which animals are largely dependent on our food
waste, and then figure out ways to mitigate the potential negative
impacts of food waste reduction on them.
“We should look at restoring the
habitats and natural food supplies of those species which have
become dependent on landfills,” he said. “For those species that
use it as supplementation and that have alternative food sources,
the main thing will be to reduce the food and they will move
elsewhere.”
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