Jul 08 2008
Food Waste
People living in “first world” countries waste a LOT of food. Whether we prepare too much, and throw away leftovers, or we buy too much, and throw away unused ingredients. It’s part of living in a well-off society, I guess, where you can afford to throw things away unused or underused.
Depending on the study you read, households are wasting about 15% of their food purchases. Perhaps even more shocking, some studies suggest that up to 40% of ready-to-harvest food is wasted, somewhere along the line. It seems like an amazingly high number to me, but when you break it down you can see where the points add up. Some lost in the field, spilled from trucks, mis-shaped (god forbig a consumer eat a non-perfect potato), damaged in transit, spoiled in storage (apples are stored 10 months out of the year; the picking season is only 2 months), and fallen on the grocery store floor.
Now, a lot of the farm-to-market waste seems pretty easy to fix. We can’t continue to keep shipping foods 2,000 miles just so that someone can get an apple or orange out of season. As consumers, we must look back to the older ways, and eat foods in-season, or can them for later use. Besides cutting costs and reducing waste, I think this would be good for us overall. It would allow us to think more about the food we’re eating, and get more in touch with the seasons and how they affect our palate. Kinda like the way you look forward to the summer and grilling outside.
Anyhow, I’m interested to know about how much food you waste in your households. What kinds of food get wasted? How long does something sit before getting tossed? Do you store leftovers? Do you eat them? What ideas do you have for reducing food waste in your home? I’m trying to get a better picture of what kinds of thing get tossed. My guess: unused fruits & vegatables are the most wasted.
2 Responses to “Food Waste”
I was reading somewhere about someone talking about things like chicken breasts, and how they are so large, etc. It went something like “it’s too big to eat, so I throw half of it away”. I was shocked that the person couldn’t, say, cut the breast in half and cook only part of it.
Yea, I thinking making the “right” amount of food is important, though that’s harder with kids, I’m sure. The only things I make large quantities of is stuff like soup/chili–anything that will freeze well.
Part of me thinks that we need to go back to the “corner market” or the local bakery and fruitseller. Those would make it a LOT easier for people to purchase their veggies as-needed, versus buying a lot (or having to plan weeks of meals) and watching them rot.
In your answer to Tiff, you reminded me when we used to go to the market two times a week when I was little. This market was mobile and will set up camp on Sunday and Wednesday. Lots of fruit, vegetables, herbs, dairy, and meats. Not very good for cold cuts, but everything else, yes. I used to go with my aunt and grandma and loved it because they will give you to try quite a bit (I used to be full by the time we were done shopping) and my family will make sure everything was used before was spoiled, but we were about 7-10 persons, and I don’t remember ever us throwing food.
Now here, I am sorry to say that some fruit goes into the garbage as well as some vegetables. I am learning the right portions to buy and I am trying to shop 2 days for fresh products, so we don’t have to eat lots of fruits the first few days and then there is either nothing left or it has gone bad. I am trying to have 2 days dedicated to leftovers or things that need to go. So, it is getting better, but you are right fruits and vegetables are my biggest waste especially because we are only 2 (Ari started to eat some now) persons.