Did you know food is the largest single source of waste in the U.S.? It’s no secret that I HATE food waste–it bugs me on so many levels, but I really had no idea that food was America’s largest single source of waste. According to an NPR article I found, food makes up 20% of the waste that ends up in our landfills. That’s more than paper or plastic. If 20% doesn’t seem too bad to you, the article puts it in a more tangible number–that’s over 35 million tons a year. 35 million tons of largely unnecessary waste. And, it all gets thrown into the same bins {unless you live in an area that provides compost bins, which very few places do}, so sorting through it to convert it into usable energy is a pretty monumental task.
I thought I had a pretty good handle on food waste around here, but have you ever stopped to measure how much of your weekly waste comes from food? One family in Iowa decided to do just that, by scraping the uneaten portions of their meals into a compost bin and then weighing it. In just a couple of days, they had 4 lbs. of waste–not even real waste, like “oooh, we didn’t get to the lettuce before it went bad waste,” but rather, excess food that was prepared and then not eaten. I’ve never really considered this kind of food waste adding up like that. I certainly have never been one of those moms that made my kids “clean their plate,” because I don’t really think we should eat past when we are full, but it did make me think that I could totally tweak how much I dish up on my plate in the first place in an effort to further reduce waste.
Composting has always been such a huge part of my garden. So, I kind of thought that if for some reason we didn’t get to the food in time, I could always feed the garden with it. And, we are really good about eating leftovers here at the Butterfield Casa, so no worries there. Still, from here on out, I am going to pay closer attention to how much food gets scraped off of our plates and into the trash. We will call it my space for improvement area. 😉
What do you think, could you do better at reducing food waste in your home? How?
~Mavis
Cathy says
I have my trusty worm bin for leftovers
Mavis Butterfield says
Good idea! I’d love to know a little bit more about your worm bin…do you keep it inside? Did you make it?
Madam Chow says
We have almost no food waste. I am not sure why, either. What little gets wasted is because it went bad before I could use it, and that is hardly ever. So, better planning would eliminate that. I even make bone broth from chicken, beef, and ham bones. If we have chicken, I save the bones in a freezer bag, and then when I have enough, I throw them in a crockpot on low for 24 hours with a splash of vinegar to get out the minerals, and old onions, carrots, etc. it makes amazing broth – even my husband can tell the difference.
Carol says
All really good points. Thanks for the nudge to re-evaluate our food waste, Mavis!
CathyB says
I just visited GILA, which is a High School boarding school in remote interior Alaska. (No roads, can only get to it by boat on the Yukon River or by plane, snow machine, etc. ) They have a culinary arts program in which the classes help prepare the food for the dining hall for all the kids in the dorms. They used to have the big metal trays but decided some time ago to just serve the food on small regular plates. They told the kids they could come back for seconds, but they give less initially. They discovered that they cut their food waste tremendously by doing this! (I think it was almost in half.) They also have a series of buckets when you deliver your food to the dishwasher that you scrape the different types of food into and they compost everything that is compostable. I was amazed that after 200 kids eating a meal, there was only a small bucket of food scraps. Being so remote, and being a public school with a limited budget, they have a lot of incentive to reduce waste. It was a really neat program and I am glad that I got to see it!
Diane says
What’s “waste” though? I would be viewed as wasteful by some since I through out my poultry carcasses and beef bones. I do not boil them for broth or soup. Ever. It’s just something I find “icky.” But, I don’t call it waste if my dogs eat the scraps off my plates. Sure, I may have cooked too much for the family to eat, but since it isn’t thrown out it isn’t waste by my definition!
Lisa says
Whatever the kids don’t eat the dogs surely will or if they reject it (most veggies), the chickens will gobble up…wait, do chickens gobble? Anyway, I do find we don’t have much left on our plates anyway because we use the small salad plates instead of the dinner plates. They just seem the perfect size. Also, easier for the kids to wash up (we don’t have a dishwasher) and they take up less room in the cupboard. We’ve used them for years and years, now when I see a regular dinner plate, I gasp, those things are huge.
Stacey says
This is one area in which I do very well. We hardly ever throw away food. I’m careful to begin with when making meals, cooking smaller portions since there are just two of us. This is especially important when trying a new recipe because we might not like it. I save even the smallest portions of leftovers to use for future meals. Tidbits can be put in the freezer to add to a meal that needs a little something extra. I bring my lunch to work, and rarely have to use anything prepackaged because I use leftovers for that, too.
Karen says
I’m proud to say that we have very little food waste! Personally, I love to eat any and all leftovers for lunch during the week. Vegetable trimmings from cooking are saved to be turned into stock later. I also make my dogs’ food, so fruits and vegetables that are a little past their prime get used for that. Anything else is composted!
I’m still working on cutting down on the waste that comes with buying food, i.e. bringing reusable bags for produce, jars for bulk items, etc.
Kathleen says
Food waste. Doesn’t happen here. Ever.
No, we don’t have a compost bucket, worm bin, or chickens.
Anytime we have what appears to be a serving of food that will be left, I wrap it for the next day’s lunch. If it isn’t quite a serving, it gets put onto the plates of the bottomless pits known as teen age boys. We have two (teens) right now, and I anticipate about 8 years (until the youngest grows up) before we have the problem of food waste again. By that time, I’ll have a compost bucket, worm bin, and chickens.
trin says
how can you have food waste? you have chickens ?! our chickens eat any – and everything … even if it tries to run away 😉
Diana says
The commenter suggestions here are giving me some great ideas and reminders. My food dehydrator has cut my expired vegetable waste down to nothing. If it can’t be consumed in time, it gets dehydrated, i.e. preserved for later use in soup or a casserole. I hate looking back on those days of yore when I would throw out a nearly-full head of lettuce, or a bag of spinach that had gone bad.
Taylor says
Oh this is a sore issue in my house! I will eat left overs even if they are two weeks old and don’t smell bad. However, my significant other refuses to eat leftovers if they are past his “next day” policy. I try to eat them all myself before they go bad, but I don’t always get to and then feel guilty when I’m throwing them out. I have started cooking smaller portions and that has helped tremendously with tackling the waste, but I still want to reduce it further!
Mavis, do you compost cooked foods that have been prepared with olive oil and seasonings?
Jen Y says
I’ve always been conscious of food waste because that’s the way I was raised. For my part it’s poor planning & laziness that causes food waste in my house…I would say that’s the reason for most of us.
What have we done over the years?
1. Leftovers are always lunches; dad takes them to work I eat them at home & so did our son when he was at home. We actually haggle over who gets what leftovers at our house. 🙂
2. Have a leftover supper as often as needed, it used to be once a week but I’m better at planning how much to cook for enough leftovers for lunches. Leftover supper means all the leftovers are spread on the counter & everyone comes through & fills their plates to heat in the microwave or the toaster over(the best appliance ever for leftovers!! it makes them really taste like new)
3. Make ‘gotta-go soup as needed in the winter, pull out the leftover veggies & meats that have got to be eaten soon, choose chicken, beef or vegetable broth & make soup – add beans, pasta, cabbage or spinach as filler if needed.
4. Freeze or cook before it goes bad – if you can’t use it, freeze it for later. Fruit freezes well for smoothies or desserts, meats & veggies for soups, stews or stir fries, ect.
5. Clean out leftovers once a week – doing that keeps you on top of things so they don’t go bad
6. Plan ahead, go through the fridge & see what’s there, be creative in using up what’s left over: a baked potato can be diced & fried to go with breakfast eggs or add mushrooms, onions, peppers & have a new side for supper. A few green beans, peas, asparagus, ect can be stir fried with a little rice for lunch…
7. Leftover condiments – add a little vinegar or olive oil to the bottom of the jam jar for a salad vinaigarette/dressing or to pour over a roast or chicken to bake.
I love The Frugal girl’s food waste Friday. She goes through her fridge every Friday & posts what’s gone bad as well as shares how she used up things to keep from tossing them. I’ve learned some great ideas from her. http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/category/food-waste-friday/