How to Reduce Food Waste

How to Reduce Food Waste

According to the EPA, “more than 38 million tons of food” was thrown away in 2014 and “about 95 percent of the food [thrown away]ends up in landfills or combustion facilities.” Practicing sustainability and reducing food waste can save individuals and businesses money and conserve important resources.

Easy Ways to Reduce Food Waste

• Keep a list of meals and ingredients that you enjoy. That way, if you are unsure of what to make, you can rely on that list to avoid purchasing too much food.
• Make shopping lists based on what you will eat at home. Wanting to be the type of person who eats yogurt made from dairy alternative and actually being that person are two different things. If you know the likelihood of you eating something is low enough that it will go to waste, don’t purchase it.
• Plan your meals the week ahead so that you only purchase the food you will need. This could be as easy as keeping a day-of-the-week wipe board and writing the meal you plan to eat for each day or as through as researching fun new dishes to try out each day with the recipe’s ready to go.
• On your grocery list, include how much of each ingredient you will need to avoid overbuying. If you know you only need enough pasta sauce for 3 people, opt to purchase the mini jar instead of the huge jar. Let’s be honest, you probably won’t “find another way to use it.”
• Look in your cabinets, pantry, and refrigerator to avoid purchasing food you already have. It doesn’t make financial sense to purchase a new bag of flour every time you make a batch of cookies. Check to see what you already have and use that before purchasing a new container.
• Only buy food in bulk if you are able to use it before spoilage. While things like chips and trail mix may last until you can eat it all, other things won’t. If your goal is to save money by buying in bulk, make sure you’re not throwing half of it away in the end anyways.
• Have one night a week dedicated to eating leftovers. From the lasagna you made on Monday to the take-out you ordered on Wednesday, it’s important to dedicate one day a week to eating leftovers so that you don’t waste fine food.

Food Prep

Food prepping is a great way to save time, money, and effort. According to the EPA, you should “take the time to wash, dry, chop, dice, slice, and place your fresh food items in clear storage containers for snacks and easy cooking” when you return from the store. They also recommend freezing foods such as bread, fruit, and meat before they go bad. In the case of meat, consider cooking it before you freeze it for easy use later.

Sell-by, use-by, best-by, and expiration dates

Learning the difference between sell-by, use-by, best-by and expiration dates can save you lots of money and reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills.

According to the USDA, “there are no uniform or universally accepted descriptions used on food labels for open dating in the United States. As a result, there are a wide variety of phrases used on labels to describe quality dates.”

In general:

• Best If Used By/Before marks when a product has the best flavor or quality. It’s not a safety or purchase date.
• The Sell-By date indicates to the stores how long the product should be on display for sale. It is for inventory management, it is not a safety date.
• Use-By indicates the last date of which a product is recommended for use while maintaining best quality. It is only a safety date when found on infant formula.

On infant formula, the use-by date is federally regulated to insure that the formula contains the correct amount and quality of each nutrient present on the label. You should not use or buy baby formula after its use-by date to ensure proper nutrient levels.

Aside from infant formula, if the product is handled properly, it should still be safe if the date passes while in storage. Spoiled foods will smell or taste weird, or develop a different texture or color because of bacteria. If you notice any of these changes on food, don’t eat it.

How to Store Food

Another great way of reducing food waste is learning how to properly store things to prevent them from going bad sooner.

• Research the proper way to store fruits and vegetables so they stay fresh longer
• Freeze, can, or preserve any surplus fruits and vegetables you have so that they don’t go to waste.
• Freeze extra yogurt, cheese (except soft cheese), milk, meat, fish, baked goods, rice, and bread too.
• Store apples, bananas, and tomatoes by themselves so they don’t ripen faster
• Store fruits and vegetables separately
• Only wash berries before you eat them. This prevents mold from growing on the berries.
• Invest in reusable food storage containers with lids
• Always store raw meat and poultry in sealed containers at the bottom of your refrigerator, and keep it separate from cooked meat and any ready-to eat foods.