Last week when I read Scientific American’s post about food waste, I was blown away. I guess I really shouldn’t have been, but I was. Some of the statistics that blew my mind:
- 30-50% of the food produced in the world goes uneaten
- the average American throws away almost 400 pounds of food each year
- 23% of eggs get thrown out
This article also pointed out that in addition to the actual food that doesn’t get consumed, the waste also applies to the resources used to create, process, package, and transport the food.
I really hate waste. I mean, really hate waste. Not just food, but resources of all kinds…money, time, energy, natural resources, manufactured goods…all kinds. I’m a pragmatist, so I don’t take this to an extreme (see above regarding time and energy), but I do make an effort. I gave up bottled water; I use reusable shopping bags; I reuse sandwich bags; I’ve re-purposed old sheets into cloth napkins….etc.
Obviously, the less you waste, the less you need to buy, and the easier it is to live below your means. (GAP YEAR!) Wastefulness is bad for the planet and bad for your wallet. Why wouldn’t everyone try to be less wasteful?
Here are some of the things we do at home to reduce food waste:
Eat Leftovers
I am constantly astounded by the people that refuse to eat leftovers. One night my husband ran into a couple we know at a restaurant, and the woman told my husband that “they don’t do doggie bags” in a manner that quite clearly communicated that that was beneath them. I don’t get that. You’ve paid for the food, and it’s going in the trash if you don’t take it home. Wasteful! But we know this couple are conspicuous consumers anyway.
When we cook dinner, we purposely make more than we’re going eat that meal so that we CAN have leftovers. Leftovers are my favorite lunch. When we clean up dinner, we put the leftovers in single serving size reusable containers, and pop them in the fridge. On our way out the door for work, we just grab one of those containers, and we’ve got lunch ready to go. It’s cheaper and healthier than anything we’d buy for lunch, and it tastes much better than most options too!
Use the Freezer
When we combined our households and had seven people to feed, we decided to invest in a small chest freezer. We buy all our meat on sale and in bulk. This allows us to get the best price, and what we don’t need right away, we put in meal-size portions and freeze. Bread, bagels, butter, beans, leftovers (and Girl Scout cookies!) all do great in the freezer. Next, we’re going to try tomatoes. We even freeze the ends of the bread loaves to use to make bread crumbs as needed.
TIP: It’s difficult to see what you’ve got stored in a chest freezer. Keep a dated list so you know what’s in there and what should be eaten first.
Keep it Visible
I like my fruit cold, so I used to keep it in the refrigerator. But my husband pointed out that when the fruit was in a drawer in the fridge, the kids didn’t see it and didn’t think about it. Consequently, a lot of fruit went to waste. So now the grapes and tangerines and apples (and grape tomatoes!) are all kept out on the counter so the kids can snack on them at will.
Store by Expiration Date
When we had five kids at home, we bought a lot of chips and breakfast cereal, and we really stocked up when it went on sale. But even at the rate that things get consumed at our house, sometimes things would get stale before they were even opened because the new stuff would get put in front, and the older stuff shoved to the back of the shelf. Once I started storing things by date order, that problem went away.
TIP: Write the expiration date somewhere on the top or front of the package in big numbers with a marker so it’s easier to spot than the manufacturer’s stamp.
For more information on shelf life of food, visit: http://stilltasty.com/
Do you eat leftovers? What do you do to reduce food waste?
