National Geographic recently featured an article about Tristam Stuart–a man out of the U.K. committed to reducing food waste across Europe and America. Stuart started his campaign against food waste unknowingly when he was only 15. He wanted to raise pigs for a little extra money, and to keep food costs low, he fed them with perfectly consumable food waste and left-overs from local shops and his school kitchen. He realized that the sheer volume of food waste was contributing to massive environmental problems.
Flash-foward 22 years, now Stewart spends his days in a grass roots campaign to reduce food waste in Britain, convince grocery stores to reduce their aesthetic requirements on food, and raise awareness about the environmental impact food waste causes. In the article, he is quoted, “Producing this huge surplus leads to deforestation, depleted water supplies, massive fossil fuel consumption, and biodiversity loss,” Stuart says. “Excess food decomposing in landfills accounts for 10 percent of greenhouse gas emissions by wealthy nations.” If that’s not enough, he mentions that each day, thousands of pounds of food are “wasted” in production methods in countries where people aren’t getting enough food–all so we can get perfect looking green beans.
One of the coolest reductions in food waste that Stuart advocates is called the Pig Project. He is working to have the laws changed that restrict what we can feed pigs–namely, leftover food scraps and otherwise wasted food. He notes that America alone ships in “millions of tons of soy from South America to feed pigs,” when we should be feeding them the stale bread, etc. that would otherwise be destined for the landfills..
I am all for any efforts that help us to use our resources more effectively. In this day and age, we shouldn’t have malnourished people–or people unable to afford healthy whole foods. Our landfills shouldn’t be littered with food scraps at all. There are TONS of perfectly viable solutions to making sure we get the most out of each morsel, whether we donate to food kitchens, get over our love of the perfect “looking” foods, feed left-overs to live stock…or even on a last ditch effort, compost the leftovers into usable goodness to grow more.
I think the best place to start is our own kitchens. What do YOU do to reduce food waste? What areas could you improve on?
~Mavis
Carol says
Through reading your blog, I have learned to pay attention to the reduced price items in the grocery store. I buy what we can eat in a day or two and keep the produce out of the landfill. Also, I have learned not to cook huge meals as my husband and I are eating less these days and there our kids are on their own. Leftovers get eaten as lunch the next day. I’m also trying to get better at freezing meats rather than let them sit too long in the refrigerator’s meat bin.
Sheila M. says
I commend the efforts to reduce food waste. However, there are other areas where the three ‘R’s….reduce, reuse, recycle….can be applied in order to decrease negative impacts on the environment and save valuable resources. Personally, I am less concerned about adding an apple core to the landfill than I would be about an entire bathroom floor worth of old tile that was replaced because it was simply ‘outdated’. Why add another coat of paint to the walls of a room just because you’ve grown tired of the old color? In my kitchen I have the following in bold letters on my garbage can…Compost? and Recycle?… as reminders for my family to decide if there is a better place than the garbage to put the item they were about to throw away. It’s a small step, but a step in a positive direction. I was able to change our garbage pick up schedule from once a week to once every two weeks. By all means replace/remove carpet or paint a room because they pose a health risk to your family. We made a few necessary repairs to our home when we purchased it as a bank repo twelve years ago. I’ll admit the kitchen and bathrooms are outdated and the light fixtures are ugly, but we’ve learned to be content with those things in order to invest time, money, and resources into other areas of our lives. A final thought….use every resource wisely, think about all that we throw away (not just food), donate items that still have life left, and recycle when it’s possible. Start small, but keep seeking the bigger picture.
Martha says
My favorite way to reduce food waste is to keep pretty much all food scraps. Any leftover meat or vegetable or starch goes into a container in the freezer and when it’s full, I put it all in a pot, fill it with water and seasonings and we have Leftover Soup! The family has never complained (well, except of one picky kid), and have even asked me to make that same soup again. Ha!
Ellen in Clackamas says
Haha Martha. My Mom used to do the same thing! All left overs went into the frig..dibs and dabs of noodles or macaroni, veggies. Then about once a week she would through it into a pot and add tomatoes and tomato sauce and called it refrigerator goulash!! Quite interesting to find the odd pea or noodle! For me, I try not to buy more than I know I can eat. Or I cook it up and throw into the freezer.
Diane says
Call me wasteful, but I won’t be boiling my chicken carcass to make stock, or saving the family leftovers to make one meal/soup.
This week so far that would be some taco meat, spaghetti with marinara sauce, a chunk of chicken breast, a quarter cup of peas, and some rice. Mixed together that isn’t something I would eat, let alone serve my family.
I ate leftover tacos the next day though. The rest stayed in the refrigerator a few days until no none claimed it, and I threw it out.
Vegetable and fruit peels, cores, etc. go in the compost heap. Some scraps and leftovers go to the dogs. Some weeks we eat an entire pound of peppered turkey, other times a half pound goes bad. Or nice rolls grow mold. When that happens I don’t buy the nice turkey and rolls the next shopping trip! We will miss it, and next time want to eat it up again.
It’s sometimes hard to gauge just how much we will eat before it goes bad. I sometimes work past dinner time, and when I get home I don’t cook. So, I might thaw some chicken and never get to it until a few days have gone by, and then it smells a bit “iffy.” I won’t take chances on “iffy” food.
I agree with Sheila. I would love a new stove. Mine came with the house, and is old and ugly. It works though, so I can’t justify buying a new one. If something is still in working order, it’s a waste to replace it just for appearances sake. A washer came with the house too, but it was rusty inside, so I replace that. I also disagree with Sheila! A gallon of paint can make a room ever so much nicer! For $30 it can change the entire look. It’s a cheap makeover. I do find a color I like and stick to it for years though.
sue says
Friday night was Leftover Night. All leftovers were put on the counter and we could make a plate to heat up. As for the leftovers made into soup, we called it Garbage Can Soup. Instead of going in the garbage it was made into soup. Yes, maybe a can of diced tomatoes or a can or broth was added but it was always great. A bag of frozen mini meatball were kept in the freezer to add if needed.
Becka says
Two things that have helped me to better utilize leftovers are 1) using clear storage containers in the refrigerator so I can easily see what’s in there and be reminded to use it up and 2) going through the freezer every couple of weeks to see what needs to be used next.
Tracie H says
I try to “plan” my leftovers. I never want to NOT have enough on hand in case a friend drops in for supper or maybe someone is extra hungry that night. But, usually Monday’s are hamburger night at our house, so I’ll plan on spaghetti for Tuesday’s and use the leftover hamburgers on place of the “meatballs”.
CathyB says
I have always tried to plan food so that there is little waste. Wasted food bugs me. That said, however, I will error on the side of caution with food that is questionable. I tend to be susceptible to food poisoning and no food is worth that! Scraps and old food go to my friend’s chickens. I think that the old fashioned way when everyone had a pig and/or chicken is a good idea. The “scraps” fed them and got turned back into food again!