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WVPE is your gateway to green and sustainable resources in Michiana. Sustainability is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This is accomplished by finding a balance between businesses, the environment, and our society (people, planet, and profit).State, National and International resources on sustainability include:The Environmental Protection AgencyThe Natural StepSustainability Dictionary45 Sustainability Resources You Need to Know Explore ways to support sustainability in the Michiana area through the Green Links Directory.Sept. 17, 2019 from 2-3:30pm"Global Warming: A Hot Topic"Sept. 17, 19, 24, and 26All sessions are from 2-3:30pmGreencroft Goshen Community Center in the Jennings Auditorium1820 Greencroft Blvd.Goshen, IN 46526The event will look at possible solutions and suffering as well as consequences beyond warmer weather. The event will examine what other civilizations have or haven’t done when faced with environmental problems. Plus there will be an exploration of the biggest unknown in the climate system: What will the humans do? Paul Meyer Reimer teaches physics, math and climate change at Goshen College. The events are presented by the Lifelong Learning Institute. The Institute can be reached at: (574) 536-8244lifelonglearning@live.comhttp://life-learn.org/

Global Plan To Streamline 'Use By' Food Labels Aims To Cut Food Waste

Confusion over "sell by" and "use by" dates is one big reason why billions of tons of food are tossed each year. A new global initiative of food giants, including Amazon, Walmart and Nestle, aims to tackle that.
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Confusion over "sell by" and "use by" dates is one big reason why billions of tons of food are tossed each year. A new global initiative of food giants, including Amazon, Walmart and Nestle, aims to tackle that.

An estimated 133 billion pounds of food is wasted in the U.S.each year, enough to fill Chicago's Willis Tower 44 times. Globally, 1.3 billion tons of food is lost or wasted annually.

And one major culprit? The confusion over "date" labels on foods. Once a "sell by" date has passed, lots of us have tossed out food that's perfectly safe to eat. The typical family in the U.S. spends about $1,500 on food that is thrown away. This adds up to billions of dollars of waste.

A new initiative, announced Wednesday, aims to harmonize "use by" labels around the globe.

The Consumer Goods Forum, a network of 400 of the largest food and consumer goods companies around the globe — including Walmart, Kellogg, Nestle, Campbell Soup, and Amazon — is asking retailers and food producers to take steps to simplify date labels.

"The goal is to simplify and harmonize food date labeling around the world to reduce consumer confusion," Ignacio Gavilan, director of sustainability at the Consumer Goods Forum, said in an interview just before the initiative was announced.

The forum's efforts build on an initiative launched earlier this year by the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Food Marketing Institute. Together, the two major trade associations for consumer food products introduced a voluntary initiative to streamline the date labels on food packaging. Instead of the many competing terms, the groups put forth a plan to use just two common phrases.

These are the two standard phrases that you can expect to see on food packages in the future: "BEST if Used By," which describes the quality of a food product. This term is meant to convey that "the product may not taste or perform" its best after the specified date, "but it is safe to use or consume," explains the Food Marketing Institute in this release.

The second term is "Use By," which applies to highly perishable products. "These products should be consumed by the date listed on the package – and disposed of after that date," explains the FMI.

The Consumer Goods Forum announcement — which is a call to action to food retailers around the globe — is being made Wednesday at an event put on by Champions 12.3, a coalition dedicated to achieving a United Nations Sustainable Development goal announced in 2015 that aims to reduce global food waste and loss by 50 percent by the year 2030.

Champions 12.3 is also releasing a progress report on efforts so far. The report concludes that 28 percent of the global population live in a region or a country that has set a target to reduce food waste and loss. In addition, the report points out that 60 percent of the globe's 50 biggest food companies have set goals or targets to reduce waste and loss.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Allison Aubrey is a correspondent for NPR News, where her stories can be heard on Morning Edition and All Things Considered. She's also a contributor to the PBS NewsHour and is one of the hosts of NPR's Life Kit.