The food garbage problem is been a major issue in the neighborhood or even the whole of New York city.
It cause health problem to people, Sanitation issue, and influx of rodents. Also it develop bad smell, and sewage on the streets, which it create a negative image to visiters.
Flushing is a small neighborhood in the east side in New York City.
Since 1990s, this area is primarily dominate by Asian, most of them are Chinese, because of that, there're Asians start local business and food establishment here.
In 2019, there were an estimated 239,869 people in Flushing/ Whitestone, of which 56.4% of the population identified as Asian, 1.7% identified as Black, 15.6% identified as Hispanic, and 24.3% identified as white. Therefore the neighborhood is predominantly Asian, and it is like a "Second Chinatown" in New York.
Outside of Flushing Main St Station
Moreover, the area is at the end of 7 train subway, people commute to city through this subway, so the small food establishment and restaurant are centralized on the 7 train station, and there large amount of demographic are spread base on the Flushing Main St Station. Thus many people are purchasing groceries in the the area, either buying food to work, or buying food at night for dinner, or just buying snack or beverage when they past by. because of the large demographic, there people are less educated and careless about the community.
And this happened
Because of there many food establishment and food cart in the area. they serve the food that you can take and eat instantly. and there not enough of recycle bin in the area, so there certain amount of people throw away trash on the streets after they eating. And expecting street cleaner will clean it after. Which you can see there're so many trash at the street at night.
And it bring out the next problem...
Waste from food
establishment
New York City is the greatest city in the world — for trash. Every evening, 12,000 tons of garbage and recyclables are thrown away by New Yorkers. And every evening mountains of garbage bags pile up on the city’s sidewalks. Since there is no limit to the number of bags New Yorkers can put on the curb, garbage bags take over most of the pedestrian walking space. How does one stand six feet away, enjoy outdoor dining, and support mobile food vendors, when there’s piles of garbage bags in the way?
New York City’s waste collection system is notably flawed. Every major city in the U.S. has managed to take the trash off the sidewalk, yet New York City continues to fall short. In the 19th century, to prioritize real estate, planners did not build back alleyways for trash collection. Because of this one planning afterthought, the city has spent decades normalizing dumping black garbage bags on top of each other in a public space.
Stores in Flushing Main St
68 % OF ALL FOOD DISCARDED WAS CONSIDERED STILL EDIBLE
In a first-of-its-kind report, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) assessed the amount of wasted food in three cities – Denver, Nashville, and New York City. The study tracked not only how much food was disposed of in the residential sector, but also what types of foods were discarded to the trash, down the drain, composted, or fed to pets. Findings showed that in all three cities, 68 percent of all food discarded was
considered still edible.In New York City specifically, 54 percent of food waste was generated in residential settings, 20 percent of this waste was generated by restaurants and caterers, and the remaining percentages were generated in all other settings including health care settings, colleges and universities, grocers and markets, event facilities and food manufacturers.
They generate close to a half million tons of food waste per year – enough to fill well over a hundred subway cars per day.
18 % OF ALL WASTE IS FOOD WASTE
In New York State, food makes up about 18 PERCENT OF ALL WASTE. Each year, about 3.9 million tons of wasted food from New York ends up in landfills, where it slowly decays and is a major contributor to methane gas production. At the same time, 12.8 percent of New Yorkers are food insecure.
250,000 TONS OF WASTED FOOD
Supermarkets, restaurants, colleges, and hospitals are some of the largest food wasters, creating more than 250,000 tons of wasted food and food scraps each year, some of which is edible food that could be rescued instead of discarded.
Piles of garbage bags are not only aesthetically displeasing, it’s also unhygienic. Garbage bags can easily be torn open and be turned into an overnight buffet for rats and other pests. Sidewalk trash is a major contributor to the city’s growing rat population. While the city has taken steps to alleviate its rat problem, it has done little to address the root cause itself, and that’s how it collects its waste.
The most crucial method of reducing food waste, though, is by preventing excess food from being thrown away. This is particularly important on the consumer level and can be hugely impactful through greater education on how a regular household, as well as grocery stores, restaurants, and other businesses and municipalities, can reduce their waste production.
Cite:
nylcv.org/news/working-solve-new-yorks-food-waste-problem/
www.nycfoodpolicy.org/food-waste-food-by-the-numbers/
citylimits.org/2021/02/03/opinion-its-time-for-nyc-to-put-trash-in-its-place-and-off-our-sidewalks/