Food waste from homes accounts for 39% of the 108 billion pounds of food that goes un-eaten in the US each year.1 The 42 billion pounds of food waste from homes is costly to the consumer and to the environment. Better food management in the home can mitigate this economic loss.
Some key points to manage food in your home:2
- Plan your meals and shop smart – Meal planning is one of the easiest ways to manage your food consumption. Manage your family’s weekly meals, the ingredients you’ll need and what you can make with your leftovers.
- Store food properly – Learn how to store fresh fruit and vegetables to stay fresh longer. Also, consider using a Food-Keeper App.3
- Organize your fridge and pantry—A messy fridge and pantry can cause items to get lost. Organize your produce using the ‘first in, first out’ method to ensure older produce gets used first.
- Learn how to read expiration dates – Expiration labels contribute to 20% of global food waste. While ‘use by’ dates are important to follow, ‘best before’ dates usually allow for a wide margin of error – use common sense to assess whether the item has expired.4
- Eat your leftovers – It’s a great way to save money and reduce waste. Many leftovers taste better the next day.
- Get creative with scraps—Just because it’s not fit for consumption doesn’t mean it has to go in the bin. There are lots of ways that you can use your food scraps; see reference 2 for options.
- Start a compost – Food waste can be composted, which gives it a second life.
- Donate to food banks—Redirect non-perishable, unspoiled food to a food bank or shelter. Within Montgomery, the bi-monthly Food-Share collection is an excellent way to create a win-win situation for those items you don’t need right now.
With some planning, there are many ways to reduce food waste while making a positive difference for the environment and our community.
- For more detail, see: https://www.feedingamerica.org/
- Abstracted from “8 life-changing tips on how to manage food waste at home (ehl.edu)”.
- For Food-Keeper App, see: FoodKeeper App | FoodSafety.gov
- To read expiration dates, see: Join our Social Impact Company | Too Good To Go
Contributed by Mark Laskovics, EAC Member