The Shocking Truth About Food Waste

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
—Margaret Mead

Have you ever thought about the food you throw out? Do you think that your food that goes into the trash decomposes? Unfortunately, food that goes into the landfill probably won’t decompose as it would if you composted it. In the landfill, the bacteria needed to decompose this food isn’t getting the oxygen they need, it probably won’t have the right moisture, along with other factors . With Earth Day 2019 about a month away, I wanted to share some ways to help you decrease your food waste!

Worldwide we are seeing 1/3 of food produced lost or wasted.  This makes me cringe considering one billion people go hungry, the prediction that food production will need to increase by 60% before 2050 to meet the demands, and this shows how labor, water, energy, and other resources are being wasted.  To clarify, food loss is when food is wasted between the producer and market.  This includes pests, handling or storage problems, problems when harvesting, etc. Food waste refers to throwing out or using food that could be consumed for non food reasons (ie. you throw it in your compost because you have too much). This includes food that is predicted to not be bought because of their appearance food close to or beyond the ‘best buy’ date, and the quantities of food that spoil or aren’t eaten as leftovers by houses and establishments.  Let’s not forget to include food that is wasted en route to livestock farmers that could have been consumed by humans.

How Much Is Actually Wasted?

In the United States, 30-40% of food is wasted. In 2010, approximately 133 billion pounds and $161 billion was wasted. This is 50% more food wasted as in 1990 and three times the amount wasted in the 1960s. This is alarming considering, in the US, 1 in 7 people are using food banks. That equates to about 46.5 million people. The highest amount of food thrown out are the ones that are the best for us. Fruits and vegetables rank as the #1 wasted food product with 45% of edible food being wasted. 30% of cereals, 20% of dairy, 35% of fish and seafood, & 20% of meat are all lost.  Food waste is also the single largest component of landfills, which is the third largest source of methane in the US (https://www.usda.gov/oce/foodwaste/faqs.htm).

We also have to think about the resources wasted to grow, harvest, and deliver this food. Each year, the amount of food wasted is grown on more than 30 million acres in the US. That’s a lot of land we could be doing something else with. Nearly 4.2 trillion gallons of water was used to grow it and a whopping 780 million pounds of pesticides were applied (https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0195405).

Holy guacamole Batman.

What’s Happening?

Something else I found surprising? 40% of this waste occurs at the consumer (you) and retail (the store) level in industrialized countries. And, nearly one pound of food is wasted per person per day in the US.    This is due to a number of reasons. When the fruit doesn’t look just right, sometimes, it’s not even harvested. If the store manager doesn’t think a zucchini will be bought because it’s to curved, it gets pitched.  Improperly storing food for transport can also lead to waste before it gets to the consumer (http://www.fao.org/save-food/resources/keyfindings/en/).  

This is my personal opinion, but I feel food is also wasted due to convenience. Haven’t you seen the meme “Oh no I have all the ingredients to make a meal, but no food”? It’s much quicker and easier to grab a granola bar than it is to chop up a cucumber. Which is unfortunate because, besides being better for us, the latter is more likely to spoil. Our intentions are good when we’re at the store, but if we don’t follow through, why waste the resources and money on these items? FYI: The average American wastes $2,000/year in food they throw out.

What You Can Do

I’m not saying try all of these at once. You would get frustrated and overwhelmed, which would lead to burnout and you saying “Screw it”. But here are somethings I do (and some I’m trying to do!) to help decrease what I throw in our compost bin. Because honestly, even with what we eat, I have plenty to feed the worms from peels, cores, coffee grounds, etc alone.

• Make a shopping list. One or two days of the week, go stand in your kitchen. Look around at what you have & write it down. Then, go to a website where you can put in ingredients and find some recipes with these items! Make it realistic, if you don’t like zoodles, don’t plan to make them. But if you have pasta sauce, noodles, and veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, or zucchini laying around, why not make spaghetti with roasted veggies? Our kids love the veggies with pasta sauce.
• Stick to your list at the store. Make sure not to be tempted with impulse buys. Avoid going to the story when you’re tired or hungry too. I know I’m way more likely to think of all kinds of things I could make with impulse buys when I’m hungry.
• Save then eat your leftovers. Make sure you have clear (I’d recommend glass) containers. No crazy chemicals will leech into your food, they can be heated up in the container more often than not, and when you see food you’re more likely to consume it. Sometimes, I even freeze leftovers or plan a supper night of leftovers. You also have lunch packed and ready to go!
• Store your food correctly. I didn’t take this seriously until a few years ago, but guys, those drawers are in your fridge for a reason. Make sure you set the humidity to the correct level to help prevent spoilage. Here is a link informing you on how to store your produce correctly: https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/add-color/keep-fruits–vegetables-fresher-longer
• Don’t take expiration dates so seriously. “Sell by” dates are just so the retailer knows when to pull something from the shelf. “Best by” dates refer to when it’ll be the best quality, not for food safety. There are actually few guidelines for these dates, so use common sense. Smelly or moldy food = no go.
• Find recipes to use wilted produce. Bananas brown? Freeze them for breads and smoothies. Vegetables looked wilted? You can chop them up & freeze them for later use too! Also, find a recipe to cook them in. When our carrots get limp or our peppers starts to look rough, I make a soup with them or stir fry them.
• Grow your own. When I pull something from my garden, I realize the time and effort put in to get that vegetable. The gratitude I feel when using them in my kitchen is all the reward I need. Plus, it’s vitamin and mineral content could be better than store bought varieties since they are usually harvested before becoming ripe so they don’t spoil while transporting!
• Buy ‘reject’ produce. Finding a company like Misfit Market, Imperfect Produce, Hungry Harvest, Perfectly Imperfect Produce, & Ungraded Produce are a few I found in the US. You can also pick the “uglies” at the store when you see them so they won’t get thrown out!
• Compost. This makes for the best soil to grow your own food. We bought worms from Jim’s Worm Farm and started our vermicompost. You can also compost without them if that grosses you out. 😉

I feel extremely blessed to be in a situation where healthy food is something I can take for granted.  It’s is sad to see that North America has the largest per capita food loss and waste with almost 300kg/year.  In an age where we are worried about greenhouse gases and starvation, we really need to find a way to become more efficient. 

What are some ways you save food? If you don’t, do you plan to?

I really appreciate you taking the time to read, comment, and share my blog guys! Let me know if there’s anything you wanna know more about in relation to toxin free or green living.
Sending you positive vibes to have a blessed day!