The Freakonomics Blog ran a story on Monday about produce and plastic packaging, arguing that if our priority is to reduce food waste - which, according to James McWilliams, the post's author, it should be - then we should be happy to see our apples and cucumbers wrapped in small amounts of plastic. McWilliams's point is that a tiny amount of well-designed and well-presented packaging can both increase the shelf life of fruits and vegetables and increase their appeal to finicky eaters, thus decreasing the likelihood that the produce will end up in the landfill.
On Tuesday, Sarah Gilbert of Daily Finance responded. She thinks McWilliams makes the unfair assumption that neither we the eaters nor the food and waste systems we've built will ever change. Rather than celebrate plastic packaging's ability to reduce food waste, she believes, we should work to educate consumers and create composting infrastructure.
Food for thought, for sure.
On Tuesday, Sarah Gilbert of Daily Finance responded. She thinks McWilliams makes the unfair assumption that neither we the eaters nor the food and waste systems we've built will ever change. Rather than celebrate plastic packaging's ability to reduce food waste, she believes, we should work to educate consumers and create composting infrastructure.
Food for thought, for sure.
