Over 1.3 billion tons of edible food are wasted each year, equivalent to providing every undernourished person on Earth with enough calories for sustenance.
Food waste occurs mainly at the consumer and retail levels; changing shopping, cooking, and storage habits can help mitigate this issue.
Buy only what you need.
One fundamental way to minimise food waste is to purchase only what is necessary. Not only does this practice save money, but it also lets you buy items when they are at their peak or season. People visit stores without a plan and purchase random ingredients they won’t use, resulting in a surplus of food in their fridge and becoming costly and wasteful.
Food waste occurs when people over-prepare meals. Overcooking meals accounts for one-third of household food waste, likely because cooking portions have increased or people forget to consume leftovers!
Consuming leftovers not only saves money and decreases waste, but it can also help mitigate your environmental footprint. Our World in Data’s research reveals that decomposition-induced methane emissions from food waste account for one-quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to climate change.
Consumer and business food waste reduction strategies can work together. At the business level, reducing food waste can help lower expenses and avoid inefficiencies in supply chain management. Companies should explore creative solutions, such as composting waste into animal feed or vegan leather production, to manage food waste more effectively.
LeanPath provides free, on-demand, and live webinars designed to teach attendees about food waste reduction. Each webinar lasts 30 minutes or less, features expert speakers, and provides helpful hints for meal planning and reusing leftovers to avoid food loss.
Plan meals.
Consumer food waste occurs mainly because people need help understanding how to store or prepare foods properly. Enhancing comprehension of “sell by,” “use by,” and “best by” dates, along with altering household consumption norms, could facilitate this endeavour.
Shopping with a list based on your recipe plans allows you to purchase only what is necessary, reducing grocery costs and impulse buys while eliminating extra weekly trips.
Planning meals can help you save leftovers and take full advantage of fresh produce. You can consume leftovers over several days and then turn them into another meal later in the week (or freeze them for future use).
Repurposing leftover food helps divert it from landfills while protecting the soil from becoming depleted of essential nutrients. You can turn stale bread into croutons, bananas into French toast, and vegetable peelings and stems into soup stock or compost for recycling!
One way to reduce kitchen food waste is to work with staff and the community to find inventive ways of using ingredients that would otherwise go to waste, which can increase restaurant profitability and build brand loyalty with diners who prioritise sustainable practices.
Reducing food loss and waste has multiple advantages, including healthier diets, fewer trips to the grocery store, and lower emissions associated with producing and transporting food. However, consumers shouldn’t bear all of the responsibility; restaurants can play an active role by encouraging customers to order smaller portions or providing “to-go” boxes so people can take home leftovers from meals they order out.
Make Half-Recipes
There are two ways to reduce food waste. One approach is to eat leftovers; the other is to buy only what you will use and use it all up. To do this successfully, create a list before shopping, including what meals (breakfast, lunches, and dinners) you plan to have each week and figure out how much food you need per meal. This will prevent overbuying while helping you achieve your cooking, shopping, and eating goals more successfully.
Utilising imperfect or overripe produce is another excellent way to reduce food waste and make the most of imperfect produce. Instead of throwing away blemished strawberries, use them in smoothies or ice cream recipes. Overripe avocados make delicious guacamole; tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers can become salsa.
If you work at a restaurant, create a weekly special to encourage staff members to use ingredients that would otherwise go to waste and promote team spirit while reducing pre-consumer waste at your restaurant.
Food waste is an enormous contributor to climate change. Beyond throwing out edible food, it wastes all the resources required in its production—energy, water, and land resources—and greenhouse gas emissions during storage and transport, costing our economy billions of dollars in wasted resources. Reducing our food waste as consumers or restaurant owners helps us save money, lower carbon footprints, and support communities that produce our food while supporting local economies that produce it all simultaneously. Applying some simple tips from this article can make an enormous impact on lowering food waste!
Freeze Food
Staying stocked up with frozen leftovers, fruit, and vegetables is an effective way to prevent overbuying or underusing fresh foods. Remember that freezing may alter their texture or flavour; be cautious about what you choose to freeze!
App-based tools can help you track inventory and plan meals. Many apps allow users to enter ingredients on hand and generate recipes designed to use them up before they spoil. This is especially helpful for businesses that produce large amounts of leftovers or households with children who may be picky eaters.
Donate any uneaten food items to local food banks and pantries. The Foodbank of the Rockies can help you find groups in your area accepting donations and provide guidance on donating safely.
Many consumers avoid “ugly” produce, even when it is perfectly safe and edible (see Misfits Market, for example). Avoid buying fruits and vegetables that are prone to wilting or developing eyes; be more willing to purchase produce with these cosmetic flaws.
Reduce your meat consumption to reduce environmental impacts. Meat requires more land, water, and energy to grow, raise, process, and transport. Try substituting some of your meat consumption with beans, lentils, or other plant-based proteins.
Donate Leftovers
Many people suffer from food insecurity, so food waste means less nutritious meals for those who need them. Instead of throwing away your leftovers, consider donating them to a homeless shelter or community meal programme. You can also directly donate used cooking oils, which can clog pipes when composted, to charities that assist low-income households in heating their homes efficiently, like Rhode Island’s Project TGIF.
Home cooks possess an incredible knack for rejuvenating leftover ingredients into delectable treats. From making French toast out of old bread to turning yesterday’s rice into delicious fried rice dishes, the possibilities for creative meal-making with leftover ingredients are limitless. Just one search on Reddit’s r/foodwaste will reveal plenty of tasty yet thrifty recipes!
As life can get busy and you become distracted from packing lunch for work or school, bringing one home is an easy way to reduce food waste and save money at the grocery store. Having ingredients readily available in your fridge and pantry makes preparing nutritious lunches ahead of time more manageable.
Engaging children in meal preparation and planning is an excellent way to teach them the value of eating healthfully and managing portions while discussing waste reduction.
Restaurants, zoos, and farms utilise numerous effective strategies to minimise food waste and keep animal feed costs within budget. Some restaurants donate leftovers directly to homeless shelters, while others send them directly to farms that use them as animal feed for cattle or pigs. It’s always wise to contact any charitable organisation before dropping off food; some may have specific guidelines about what they accept, while others only want non-perishables and canned items.
