ENGL1107 – Example Essay
Essay Question: What can we do to prevent food waste?
Title: Save Food and Give Back: How to Effectively Reduce Food Waste
Hook: When are we going to take action to reduce the food waste that is
damaging our planet? Transition to the Thesis: Many people assume that decreasing
food waste is an impossible task since we must consume food every day. Thesis:
However, food waste can be prevented through increasing sustainable food disposal,
improving the management of excess food, and regularly donating leftovers to non-
profit organizations.
Topis sentence: First, people must be taught that disposing of food sustainably
is one of the key actions that help to keep our planet healthy. Supporting sentences:
We often remember the lessons learned at school for a lifetime, such as sharing toys
and taking care of the environment. For instance, when my stepson was a child, he
studied at a school that had a gardening program that used the leftovers from students’
snacks as compost. Today, my stepson is almost an adult, and he makes sure to
properly dispose of the organic waste in our house because of what he learned when
he was a child. It’s not only children who can learn to dispose of food responsibly;
adults can too. For example, for adults to learn about composting and other
sustainable methods of food recycling, the power of technology could be harnessed.
Imagine an app that could provide information about all the ecologically safe ways to
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ENGL1107 – Example Essay
dispose of different foods. Concluding sentence: Even if we don’t use apps or other
technology solutions to educate people about environmentally friendly ways of
disposing of unwanted food, we need to start talking about this topic more in our
everyday lives, as the health of the planet depends upon our responsible behaviour
regarding food waste.
Topic Sentence: In addition, businesses that deal with food need to implement
better food management practices in order to stop food waste. Supporting sentences:
Since food businesses usually deal with a large amount of food daily, they should
develop strategies on how to manage the remaining food. For example, I work in a
mall and there is a restaurant that lowers prices of prepared meals at the end of the
day. This encourages people to buy the meals, therefore preventing almost all food
waste. Similarly, the catering companies that attend big events should plan better to
avoid all the waste that is left behind. I actually worked for a catering companies that
didn’t care about food waste at all. To prevent the meals from running out during the
event, they used to prepare an excessive amount of food. To make matters worse, they
didn’t allow anyone to take the leftovers home; instead, everything had to be thrown
in the garbage. This food waste was completely preventable had the company had a
plan to donate excess food, or let employees take the food home. Concluding
sentence: To sum up, businesses that deal with need to create reasonable plans to
minimize excess food.
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ENGL1107 – Example Essay
Topic sentence: Finally, another effective way to decrease food waste, and also
help those in need, is to donate excess food to non-profit institutions. Supporting
sentences: For example, I know one institution that distributes meals in a low-income
community; they regularly receive donations from restaurants, which prevents hunger,
as well as food waste. Many non-profit institutions, such as the YMCA and YWCA,
are in contact with people who are struggling to meet their basic needs, whereas the
majority of restaurants are not welcoming to people who are homeless or visibly
needy. Additionally, non-profits can fundraise to install large freezers and other food-
saving technology that food businesses may not have room or money for. This allows
perishable food to be stored at non-profit institutions for a long period of time, ready
to be distributed to people as needed. Concluding sentence: In brief, donating food to
organizations that specialize in feeding hungry people is an effective way to prevent
food from ending up in the landfill.
Conclusion paragraph summary of essay’s main points: In conclusion, there
are many ways to decrease the problem of food waste. Different strategies can be
used, such as education on sustainable food disposal, management of excess food, and
contributions of leftover food to charity organizations. Clincher: These strategies do
require that we put in effort to change our food management practices, but the planet
will thank us for taking the initiative to prevent food waste.
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