Eating Responsibly: How To Eliminate Food Waste

How many times your parents told you to finish your plate because there are kids starving in Africa? Maybe you are saying exactly the same thing to your kids to make them feel guilty for wasting their food.

Up until today I still feel bad when I have to throw away food. At home we don’t waste as much as we try to cook no more than we are going to eat or eat any leftovers the day after…. and scraps go to chickens and geese in exchange for eggs… or on the compost pile to fertilize our homegrown produce.

I’ve also learned that it is no shame to ask for a doggy bag at a restaurant to save my leftovers for later instead of sending them to the kitchen bin.

A Few Food Facts

According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), a whopping one-third of all food produced for human consumption goes to waste. This means that over 1.3 billion tons end up in the landfill. This is actually a very sobering statistic if you count in the fact that this is about the amount we need to feed all the hungry mouths in the world.

This huge waste not only relates to household waste, but to food that gets lost through various steps in the production and supply process as well. Foods that are bruised or are not the perfect shape often end up in the bin before they even reach the customers just because their look isn’t the most appealing.

A while ago supermarkets and stores in France started to sell their ugly produce, and Canada followed their example. This new trend of eating ugly (and cheaper) food may be one of the keys to solving the world’s food waste problem. But whether this is going to happen or not is beyond our control.  how you can do your bit to reduce your food

Here’s how you can do your bit to reduce your food waste while saving money and our planet.

ALSO READ: Going Organic Without Breaking The Bank

Eating Responsibly – 8 Food-Saving Tips And Tricks

1.      Make a list

Plan meals and make a shopping list before heading to the grocery store or market. This will avoid impulse buys and save you money too. Don’t fall for the “buy one, get one free”, unless it is something you’ll certainly eat.

2.      Buy Local and ugly food

Local produce is fresher and will keep longer. Buy the fruits and veggies with funny, odd-looking shapes as these might otherwise go to waste.

3.      Rely on your nose

Use-by or best-by dates are only suggestions to cover producers for possible health claims. Most foods are actually still safe well after their use-by date. So rely on yourself to determine if foods are still good instead of discarding them when they’re still consumable.

Scroll down for more food-saving tips and trick to start eating responsibly.