Photographer Pantelis Anastasios Korovilas, 19, hails from Clinton, Iowa and is finishing up a graphic arts program at Clinton Community College. The photos below are part of his ongoing exhibit, Project +. Here, he describes his work:
Through the use of photographs, Project+ is the study of human nature, the increasing amount of food produced and wasted in this country and the unnecessary rise of poverty associated with it.
As the leading contributors to global warming, we add to the problem by dumping an estimated $31 billion worth of food into American landfills. My generation has been born into this “throw-away” society. It has become, for most of us, part of our culture and it is hard to swim against the current or change old habits. We were born with our eyes closed.
My goal is for this to be an ongoing project, to be more than just art, but a cause and a means of reaching out to the public, to my generation. We will someday be the owners of local businesses or part of the 30 million people going hungry in this country. It is time to open our eyes.
For more information, visit his Web site or e-mail: pakorovilas at hotmail.com
Hi. I’m looking at all the wasted food, but I’m also seeing all the wasted packaging, which to me is an even greater problem. Yes, the food will go to the landfill and create methane gas, which is a bad thing. But the plastic will also go to the landfill and create methane and leach toxic plasticizers and last pretty much forever.
If we could only get away from all this disposable plastic and other packaging, we would end up with a little food waste that could then be composted and returned to the soil to make more food.
I’m not saying it’s okay to waste food. But it’s the fact that we’re mixing it with all these other materials that turn it into unrecoverable waste rather than nutrients for the earth.
What do you think?
Interesting comment, Beth.
I have no idea how large an impact packaging has on our environment compared to food waste. Do you have any numbers like how much food waste packaging is thrown out each year? I’m guessing the data is not broken down that specifically.
Until I see how much packaging is out there, it would be hard to say that packaging waste is a greater problem. Then again, I’ve never said that food waste is more or less significant than other problems. I write about the topic partly because know that individuals can have a huge impact on the amount of food waste created.
I completely agree that disposable packaging is a bad thing. That’s why I try to reuse and/or recycle containers whenever possible and bring my own bags to the grocery store. What are some other ways we can cut down on packaging?
And I agree in theory that food waste, if composted, could be less harmful than plastic packaging waste. But do you know what percent of food waste is diverted from landfills? A whopping 3 percent, nationwide. Kinda sad.
Thanks for your insight. I hope you’ll share some more…
Great website!! Keep up the good work!!
I am not sure if baby’s comment was directed towards me or you Jon but, thank you if it was.
You have a nice site too Jon
Bravo! and keep up the good work. I do agree about the packaging being a major problem, though.
Back in the day, when I was a kid (something like 40 years ago) there was a lot less disposable material used for serving food. Restuarants actually had plates, utensils, glasses and napkins which were picked up and washed. Schools served their food on plates or trays which were cleaned after each use. We kids were expected to sort our disposible trash, such as paper napkins and milk cartons into one barrel, drop our silverware into a bucket of sanitizing solution (probably clorine bleach and water) then to push the trays with the food remains on it over to the lunch ladies, who dumped the food into barrels of scraps and ran the trays through a high temperature dishwasher. I don’t think anybody ever got sick from the recycling.
We kids were eager to get outside and play at lunchtime, so we hustled to sort our own trash, silver and food, and since we did a lot of the work, I doubt it added much time to the payroll. At some point, the labor of cleaning everything began to be more expensive than the cost of constantly replacing everything. At least, that was the common knowledge of the day. Now, few people question it. It absolutely makes me crazy.