Exploring how to reduce food wastage is essential for the long-term sustainability of mankind on this planet. Most of us never think of the journey of our food from the farms to our plates or fridges. We are all guilty of buying more than we need, leaving vegetables and fruits to spoil at home, serving more significant portions, and throwing away the leftovers.
Food wastage is a new-age scourge that pressures our economy and environment. According to the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), a fifth of the food generated worldwide goes to waste. It may not seem like much, but it amounts to about a billion meals wasted daily! It’s easy to think that wastage happens at the retail level or in the food service industry, but UNEP statistics show that 60 percent of food wastage occurs in our homes.
So, how do you curb this waste? This article explores easy tricks for preventing food wastage at home.
9 ways to reduce food wastage
1. Adopt healthier eating habits
Making nutritious meals may not be accessible in our modern, fast-paced lives. However, take time to slow down and find a healthy routine that involves healthy eating habits. You can find easy-to-cook healthy meals online that improve your nutrition and ensure you eat healthy.
2. Make a shopping list and stick to it
Buying household food on a whim usually leads to buying more than you need, unhealthy eating habits, and money wastage. That’s why taking stock of what’s in your pantry and freezer is advisable, as planning your menu for the next week and making a shopping list of things you need. Also, don’t go shopping hungry to avoid impulse buying, and if there’s a deal or something on offer that has caught your eye, you may call a friend to see if you can share the cost.
3. Make mid-week trips to the market
Planning your meals for the whole week is great, but you must remember the perishables when shopping. Some fruits and vegetables lose their taste and texture when stored in the fridge. So plan a mid-week grocery shopping trip to avoid buying bulk and throwing away spoiled ones.
4. Understand food labeling
Misunderstanding the expiration date is a great contributor to household food wastage. Most foods are still safe to eat even after the “best by” or “best before” dates. Generally, the “best before” date has more to do with quality than safety, and it shows the period during which the food will have the best taste, appearance, or texture. On the other hand, the “use by” date is the last recommended date when the food retains its highest quality.
Instead of relying on the expiration date, you can rely on the food’s appearance, texture, or taste (depending on the food) to know if it’s gone bad. That said, never eat spoiled food and research food safety to know which foods are no-nos after the “use by” date.
5. Find ways to repurpose expired or perishable foods
As mentioned, food may lose its taste and appearance after expiration and become unappealing. But you can still become creative. For example, you can revive your stale bread by toasting it or making breadcrumbs (mixed with herbs and onions) for stuffing. Also, you can freeze fruits and veggies that lose texture and appearance when frozen whole, pureed, or stewed. This works well with tomato puree for pasta dishes and pizza and fruit puree for smoothies.
6. Love your leftovers
If you can’t finish everything you prepare, you can preserve it as a convenience meal the next day or use it as an ingredient in another meal. You can also set up a day to use your leftover meals of the week for stews, casseroles, fruit pies, and more.
7. Proper storage
Besides learning what goes in the freezer, fridge, pantry, or cupboard, it’s also recommended to know how to store them in these places. Always label the contents and preparation dates of meals you’ve stored and keep the older ones in front to remember them. You can also portion the meals in your freezer, for example, meats, to prevent defrosting the whole batch and freezing again.
8. Get to know your food producers
Whether your food is sourced locally or abroad, understanding the food process will make you appreciate and respect food more. With more than 700 million people suffering from chronic hunger, learning more about food and cuisines worldwide can help teach everyone in your family to respect food. You can also help reduce pollution by supporting local producers or buying the so-called “ugly” foods, which are often cheaper.
9. Composting
Backyard composting can help you reduce environmental degradation and provide nutrients for your houseplants or small kitchen garden.
Takeaway
Reducing food wastage and loss is a collective effort that should involve everybody, from the farmer to the consumer. We can do our part by embracing creative ways of reducing food wastage at home and adopting responsible ways of handling food wastage.
Follow us on X, Facebook, or Pinterest
