How to Reduce Food Waste at Home
Food waste occurs at every point of the food chain: on farms, in packaging and distribution, in stores, in restaurants, and at the consumer level. However, households are responsible for the largest portion of all food waste.
Discarded food is sent to landfills. As it rots it produces methane gas, a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2. Thankfully, you can help reduce the environmental impact of food waste.
Only cook as much as you can eat…
If you end up throwing out a lot of your leftovers, cooking smaller portions is an obvious way to reduce food waste. It can also help you maintain a healthy weight. When you only cook as much as you expect to eat, less food is likely to end up in the trash can and sent to rot in a landfill.
Another healthy tip is to use the foods you buy to their fullest nutritional potential. For instance, crispy chicken skin not only tastes great, but is also full of vitamins, protein, healthy fats, and selenium which helps reduce inflammation. Various fruit skins are also full of nutritional benefits. Eating these parts instead of throwing them out helps reduce food waste.
…and preserve the rest.
Preserving your food is an excellent way to reduce waste, with the added convenience of cutting down on the amount time you spend preparing meals. One of the simplest ways of doing this is by freezing food in plastic freezer bags or containers. Canning also does a great job of preserving food since canned goods can last for years.
Whenever you cook a large meal, such as for a family gathering, save and store the food that hasn’t been eaten. This also applies when you eat out. If there are leftovers in your plate when you’re at the restaurant, why not ask for a doggy bag?
Organize your refrigerator
An overfilled refrigerator can often result in food being shoved to the back, never to be seen again until it has spoiled and must be thrown out.
While a full refrigerator is nice in theory, in practice it can lead to a fair amount of wastage. Here are a few tips to help you organize your fridge, as recommended by Canadian food service company Olymel:
The refrigerator’s temperature must be kept between 1 and 4°C.
Label products upon receipt with clear expiry dates.
Rotate your foods using the FIFO system (first-in, first-out)
Finally, make sure that you inspect the contents of your fridge regularly and throw out anything that has past its expiry date.
The bottom line
Even easy, small things can make a real difference. By following these tips, you will help reduce food waste while cutting down on your grocery expenses. It truly is a win-win situation!