Readers React: If you’re troubled by food waste, you should support GMOs

To the editor: Reading the article, “The food that goes bad in your fridge amounts to trillions of gallons of wasted water,” I was disheartened about the sheer amount of wasted food and resources when so many are without any food at all. I was equally disappointed with the lack of solutions mentioned to combat waste.

The article reported that 39% of food waste comes from produce because of spoilage or “imperfections in appearance.” This is not sustainable in a world with a growing population and finite resources.

Genetic modification has been developed to grow produce using less water as well as to retard bruising and retain freshness. We must leverage the innovation and technological advances that will allow us to produce more food without using more resources.

Available today, genetic modification is a reliable and safe practice that farmers can use to produce more food, more sustainably.

Karri Hammerstrom, Clovis, Calif.

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To the editor: I have finally figured out how to solve the problem of all the little dabs of leftover food that end up cluttering my fridge.

It used to be a real problem — not enough of anything to provide a real meal, but too much to just throw away, so there this food sat, making me feel guilty every time I opened the fridge. So now, about once a week, I make “Clean Out the Refrigerator Soup.”

I start out with a bouillon cube broth and then stir in all those little tidbits that have been cluttering my fridge. Almost anything will work — a bit of hard cheese, a tablespoon of tofu, a dab of yogurt. Add some sliced carrots and a potato and a spoon full of alphabet pasta, then stir in generous sprinkles of herbs, such as dried thyme, oregano, sage and garlic powder.

My family loves it and thinks I’m a fantastic cook. I don’t tell them the truth.

Jean Koch, Los Angeles

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