The world is coming ever closer to a worldwide food shortage and irony of ironies much of the worlds edible food is never eaten. In Canada 51% of the food wasted comes from our own homes, broken down it is estimated that for every man woman and child a whopping 122 Kilograms of food is thrown away each and every year. Put another way that is nearly 40% of what we buy.
Those are some pretty scary numbers. We all expect some waste of food between the fields and our tables, whether a crop is damaged by inclement weather or a truck with perishable items breaks down some waste is inevitable but knowing that the majority of the problem lays with us the consumers is dis-heartening to say the least.
Now I won’t try to pretend that I don’t waste food but I do try my best to avoid it, as should we all. Years ago our finances were fairly lean and so I first learnt how to keep my food waste low out of necessity. It became habit and I’ve tried to keep up those methods that worked to keep my own families levels of food waste low.
Some of the things that have worked for me are easy simple things that anyone can do. In doing my part, first by trying my best to stick to these tips myself, I thought sharing them may be a benefit to others as well.
1. Keep your fridge and pantry clean
It seems like such a simple thing but one of the most effective ways to prevent food waste. By keeping clean and organized you can see what you have making it easier to decide on what to eat as well as what to buy. Cleaning out your fridge before your next shopping trip can be a big helps with tip #2. Also remember to check the temperature of your fridge and freezer from time to time. Food stays best when kept in the right temperatures and the only way to know if yours is right is to check.
2. Plan ahead
Planning a meal menu and shopping list before shopping. This ensures that you aren’t buying items for meals you don’t plan on having and so won’t get used. Having cleaned out your fridge before-hand it will be easier to decide what meals you or your family may like in the week ahead. Keep in mind of course that not every meal can be a great one and plan for those ten minute meal ideas for those days when you’re stretched thin on time.
3. Shop more often
You can’t count on produce staying fresh for weeks on end and so shopping more often but in smaller quantities helps to prevent food waste. I do a “big shop” every two weeks purchasing meat and frozen items for the menu that I’ve planned out but I only buy enough produce for those first few meals. Every few days I look at the menu choices which are left on my list and return to buy the produce needed for the next few days. It keeps your options open and your menu a little more flexible.
4. Watch how much you put on your plate
This tip isn’t only good for your waste but your waist. We often put more on our plate than we intend to eat. By doing this we not only tend to eat more but waste more as food left on your plates can’t be saved as leftovers. Inevitably the food left on our plates ends up in the garbage.
5. Consider if leftovers should go in the fridge or freezer
Leftovers are one of the biggest wastes of food they sit in the back corner of our fridges until the food spoils, most times it is simply because we forgot about them, or got tired of eating the same thing day after day. So look at your leftovers and consider do you really want that lasagna for lunch the next three days or should you freeze two servings and spread them out over a longer period.
6. Consider how you order out.
Often when we eat out much more food than we can eat in one sitting ends up on our plate. There are several ways around this particular issue. If you know a restaurant serves large servings consider sharing your meal with someone else interested in the same item or ask if you can get a half serving. Most restaurants are very accommodating to these requests particularly in families with younger children. Remember though that if you do this your tip should reflect the number of diners not just the final price tag on your bill.
Of course if you are uncomfortable doing this or are only able to get the full size serving remember to get a doggie bag and make it into a lunch for the next day.
7. Be creative with produce that isn’t quite as pretty
Sometimes food doesn’t look as good as it started out while not being spoiled. So get creative, not so crunchy carrots; make carrot muffins, strawberries gone a little soft; make a tasty smoothie, banana’s turned black; banana bread, spinach about to turn; incorporate it into a casserole or lasagna.
8. Know your labels
A great continuation of #7, know your labels. Understand the difference between best-by, use-by and expires-on. That yogurt labeled best-by yesterday is likely still good; check it out instead of just tossing it out. Remember that best-by means that it is likely the item will begin to lose nutritional value at this point not that it has spoilt the instant it reaches that date. Also look at labels for best storage practices, proper storage gives your food a longer life and also makes food safer.
9. Consider quantities
If that box of tomatoes looks like a great deal remember to consider if you can use that many tomatoes before they go bad. Have an amazing recipe that calls for a rarely used item, check out your stores bulk section and buy what you need not whatever comes in a box. Turns out you hated the recipe well no worrying the rest of the item will go bad because you used it all the first time around. Remember sometimes quality does come before quantity.
10. Watch what you throw out
The simplest one of all but one we often overlook. By paying attention to what you throw out and how often you do so you can learn a lot about where your food waste comes from. Learning where it comes from means that you can change your purchasing habits and discover how to avoid it.
