Wasting Away

Food waste is a problem that often goes unnoticed in our daily lives. I was completely unaware of how much waste I was creating until I started composting. Separating my food waste into the countertop bin allowed me to actually see how much waste I was producing each week. Food waste is often invisible.

We toss it & we forget it!

We may not realize it, but the food we throw away has far-reaching consequences for our environment, our economy, and our society. A shocking ⅓ of all food produced around the world is wasted! My favorite way to visualize this waste is with a quote from the amazing Dana Gunders:

“Imagine walking out of a grocery store with four bags

of groceries, dropping one in the parking lot,

and just not bothering to pick it up.

That's essentially what we're doing.”

When we think about it like this, it seems ridiculous! And that's because it is!

When we waste food, we waste all of the resources that went into making it. This negatively impacts our wallets, our economy, our health, our population and our planet!

So how do we stop the waste?!? 

Here are 5 easy tips to help fight food waste:

1. Plan Your Meals:
                A little planning can go a long way. Create a shopping list, stick to it, and avoid buying more food than you can consume. Saves money and reduces waste. Win-Win!

2. Proper Storage:
                Learn how to store food properly to extend its shelf life. This includes using airtight containers, keeping your refrigerator at the right temperature, and freezing items when necessary.

PRO TIP: Add a clean kitchen towel to that bag of lettuce/spinach in the fridge and watch it last over a week without wilting!

3. Understand Expiration Dates:
                Familiarize yourself with the difference between "use by," "sell by," and "best before" dates. Many foods are safe to consume well beyond these dates

        Click here for additional reading: https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-        preparation/food-safety-basics/food-product-dating

4. Donate Surplus Food:
            If you have excess food that you won;t eat before it expires (think canned and frozen foods), consider donating it to local food banks or charities.


        Click here to find where to donate:

            https://fcsserves.org/program/kent-social-services/
            https://hungernetwork.org/

5. Compost:
                Composting food scraps is better than putting them in the trash. Food scraps that end up in landfills produce very harmful Greenhouse Gases. Composting these scraps allows them to breakdown with oxygen to create beneficial nutrients for soil instead of toxic fumes (See the previous blog posts to learn more about composting)

If we each do one small thing every day to combat food waste, together we can save the planet!

J.D

Resources:
Gunders, D., & Bloom, J. (2017). Wasted: How America is losing up to 40 percent of its food from farm to fork to landfill.
IPCC, 2023: Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, H. Lee and J. Romero (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 184 pp., doi: 10.59327/IPCC/AR6- 9789291691647.