It used to be called “garbage feeding,” tossing table scraps and unwanted, uneaten food to barnyard animals to peck or chew in a haphazard addition to their rations. With concern mounting on climate change and food waste, the practice of recycling scraps into livestock feed looks like a winning way to reduce food waste, says Inside Climate News.
An estimated one-third of the food produced in the world is lost between harvest and the dinner plate, amounting to a giant source of greenhouse gases when the food decomposes in landfills. If wasted food could be diverted as animal feed, it would reduce greenhouse gases as well as lower the demand for livestock rations.
It’s not a simple fix, however. There are state and federal restrictions, some created as safeguards against mad cow disease, on feeding leftovers to food-bearing animals. Beyond that, livestock producers want maximum benefit from feed, so it is carefully formulated. Food waste may not fit into their plans or be nutritious for their animals. Nicole Civita, director of the Food Recovery Project at the University of Arkansas law school, is active on both issues. For the moment, she told Inside Climate News, “we’re talking about using leftovers as a supplement.”