REDUCE FOOD WASTE TO HELP PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT

Written by Jennifer Korneski (Somerset County Healthy Living Program Coordinator)

Food waste is a growing problem affecting families in America and around the world. There are major environmental consequences and an impact to financial health due to this waste.

In the US, over one-third of the edible food supply is wasted. While the world wastes about 1.4 billion tons of food every year, the US discards more food than any other country, nearly 80 billion pounds a year. For a family of four, that estimates to losing $1,500 from uneaten food a year.

Most people don’t realize how often they waste food and the negative impact it has for the environment, our economy and for food security, which means having reliable access to affordable and nutritious food.

Food that is thrown in the trash ends up in landfills where it creates and emits methane into the air, a greenhouse gas (GHG) that contributes to climate change. It also wastes the resources used to produce the food.

Preventing food from going to waste is one of the easiest and most impactful actions you can take to not only save money, but also lower your personal climate change footprint.

Americans are often impulsive in their food purchases by unrealistically estimating how much food is needed and not knowing what is already at home. As a result, we buy more food than can be eaten before it goes bad.

The USDA recommends following these simple steps to help your family prevent food waste at home:

Plan Ahead

Before you go to the grocery store or order food online, take inventory of what you already have in your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer.
Think about what you need for upcoming recipes and make a shopping list so you don’t buy more than you will use.
Be mindful of buying fresh food in bulk or supersize portions
Plan meals around fresh produce you already have that may be at the end of freshness. Stir frying peppers and mushrooms, sautéing spinach or roasting vegetables are economical ways to create delicious meals without wasting nutritious produce.

Serve Smart

Portion control is good for maintaining a healthy weight but is also helpful in reducing plate waste. By serving smaller portions, you can always go back for seconds, but if you take too much, it will end up in the trash.

Love Your Leftovers

Store leftovers in individual-size ready-to-go containers or freeze for a future meal. Be sure to label and date all food and keep leftovers towards the front of the fridge where it will be easily seen.

Make a meal-to-go and deliver to a neighbor or donate unopened food to a local food pantry.

Transform leftover ingredients into a new meal. Some examples that I shared in last month’s blog Meal Planning Made Easy, is using leftover quinoa, as a warm breakfast option or using vegetables to make a quiche.

Freeze bananas or fruit for smoothies, make homemade stock with meat bones or leftover vegetables parts like stems and leaves, and make breadcrumbs or croutons out of stale bread.

Prolong the life of food with these hacks:
- Stick wilting celery in a glass of water and keep in fridge, it will perk back.
- Place a ripe avocado in a jar filled with water and keep in fridge a few weeks, it will be perfectly ripe.

Compost, Don’t Trash

Recycle food scraps in a home compost bin or at a local compost center. This will bring nutrients back into the soil, improving your garden and reducing the food ending up in the landfills. For resources and information on composting, visit https://njaes.rutgers.edu/fs811/.

Another reason food waste is such a problem is that there are no universally accepted date descriptions used on food labels in the US, which is confusing to consumers.

Examples of commonly used terms that are safety dates:

A "Best if Used By/Before" date indicates when a product will be of best flavor or quality.
A "Sell-By" date tells the store how long to display the product for sale for inventory management.
A “Use-By" date is the last date recommended for the use of the product while at peak quality. It is not a safety date except for when used on infant formula.
A “Freeze-By” date indicates when a product should be frozen to maintain peak quality.

This fact sheet from Rutgers Cooperative Extension, explains the basics on refrigerator and freezer food storage and safety.

On September 16, 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the first-ever domestic goal to reduce food loss and waste. The U.S. 2030 Food Loss and Waste Reduction goal seeks to cut food loss and waste in half by the year 2030.

By acting on this goal, Americans can reduce climate and environmental impacts associated with food waste while improving food security and saving money for families and businesses.

In 2016, the U.S. Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champions was created by the USDA and EPA for businesses and organizations to make a public commitment to reduce food loss and waste in their own operations in the United States by 50 percent by the year 2030.

These are ambitious goals and hopeful when each business and each family makes a conscious effort to reduce food waste, together, we can make a difference and help preserve our beautiful Earth and its important resources.

SOURCES

“Preventing Food Waste at Home.” United States Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.epa.gov/recycle/preventing-wasted-food-home. Accessed 1 April, 2022.

“Food Loss and Waste Consumers.” U.S. Department of Agriculture. https://www.usda.gov/foodlossandwaste/consumers. Accessed 1 April, 2022.

“Food Product Dating.” Food Safety and Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/food-product-dating. Accessed 1 April, 2022.

“Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champions.” U.S. Department of Agriculture. https://www.usda.gov/foodlossandwaste/champions. Accessed 1 April, 2022.