How to Decrease Food Waste and Nourish the Planet: A Sustainable Guide

According to the climate journalists at earth.org, approximately one-third of the food produced for human consumption each year goes to waste. That’s around 1.3 billion tons of food with a value of $1 trillion! That behavior doesn’t just waste food, unfortunately. It also winds up wasting a quarter of our water supply. On a planet with already-scarce resources, that’s not only careless but clearly unsustainable.

The key to reversing those statistics lies in a collective effort to change how we relate to and utilize our food. And, like any global undertaking, it starts with changing our local behavior. So how do we do that? We’re breaking it down in this post.

Understanding Food Waste

So, what exactly is food waste? The UN World Food Program defines food waste as the food we discard that’s still fit to consume either before or after it spoils. It happens most often at home as well as in places like restaurants, hotels, and grocery stores when we throw away otherwise edible food because it’s imperfect or unused. That’s different than food loss, which happens when food unavoidably becomes damaged, destroyed, or otherwise unfit for human consumption before people have a chance to eat it. That covers things like drought, spoilage, and pest infestation. Both can occur throughout the food supply chain.

The consequences of food waste and loss are considerable. Experts estimate that wasted food and the water it takes to produce it could be used to feed and care for billions of people across the globe each year while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 4.4 gigatons.

Planning and Shopping Smart

Avoiding food waste in our own lives and households isn’t hard. It just takes a little planning. Here are some simple daily ways to do that:

• Check First: Before you go shopping, do a quick kitchen inventory. Knowing what you already have will prevent you from buying unneeded items that may go to waste.
• Shop Smarter: Who else remembers going to the grocery store and repeatedly hearing “stick to the list.” It had a way of reminding us to buy what we needed, not what we wanted. Making a list of the exact items you need and sticking to it will reduce impulse buying, help you waste less food, and save money.
• Plan Meals: Nothing helps you “stick to the list” better than meal planning. When you know what you’re planning to make, precisely what ingredients you’ll need, and how long those ingredients will last, you can cut your waste considerably. So be sure to plan ahead.
  • “My favorite way to prevent food waste is to plan meals ahead for the week. In doing so, you have an exact use for everything you buy. Not only is this a great way to eliminate food waste but also to save money.” - Brandi Mingyar, MS, RD, LD a Bariatric Dietitian at Mount Carmel Grove City Hospital.
• Control Portions: It’s hard to predict appetites, but you can save a lot of food waste by managing how much you cook and how much you eat at one time. If you want to waste less, try cooking and serving smaller portions. You’ll keep from using more food than you need, avoid leftovers, which can go bad if you don’t eat them relatively soon, or prevent throwing unused food out at the end of the meal – all positive outcomes.

Proper Food Storage

One of the best ways to keep consumable food from becoming food waste is to store it properly so it can be finished or reused. So here are some suggestions for making the most of the food you purchase and the leftovers they often become.

• Understand Expiration Dates: According to the USDA, much of our food waste here in the United States comes from consumer confusion about the expiration dates on food labels. Unfortunately there are no uniform dating descriptions used on our food labels to quell that confusion. A "Sell-By" date tells the store how long to display the product. It is not a safety date. A “Use-By" date is the last date recommended for the use of the product to assure peak quality. It is also not a safety date (except when it’s used on infant formula). The USDA recommends manufacturers and retailers use a "Best if Used By" date, which indicates when a product will be of the best flavor or quality. It is not a purchase or safety date, but it should give you the best sense of when you should reasonably expect to use that food.
• Store Food Safely: Storing food safely is another way to reduce food waste. Whether you’re a fan of leftovers or just want to know how long it’s safe to keep apples in a bowl on the counter (3 weeks is the recommendation, by the way), the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has a complete guide for how long virtually every food available in the United States will keep in the pantry, in the refrigerator, and in the freezer. It’s an incredibly handy guide and absolutely worth downloading.
• Get Creative With Leftovers: Speaking of leftovers, they’re one of the best ways to keep consumable food from going to waste. Rather than throwing out cooked food, store it safely using the tips above and repurpose leftovers of all kinds into brand-new meals.

Embracing Imperfection

A great deal of food waste, especially in economically advantaged countries, comes from our discomfort with foods that “just don’t look right.” Whether they’re misshapen or slightly damaged, we’re inclined to pass on them or throw them out. But damage doesn’t mean inedible. "Ugly" fruits and vegetables are perfectly good to eat despite our appearance-driven reticence. And you can always cut around bruises and other damage to avoid tossing the entire item.

Food waste is a worldwide issue, which may make it seem like an overwhelming challenge. But if we all do whatever we can to reduce waste in our own households and spread the word to others, we can make a big collective impact on food insecurity, water conservation, and local economies here at home and around the world.