How significant is food waste in affluent countries? According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the amount exceeds the total food production of all of Sub-Saharan Africa. In the United States, approximately 50% of all agricultural produce is wasted, starting from the farm and culminating in the kitchen, as highlighted in a report by The Guardian.
What impact does this waste have on your household finances? For an average family of four, this translates into a staggering loss of about $1,800 per year, as estimated by the National Resources Defense Council.
It’s a sad truth that wasting a melon—or any food—is a major issue. But what steps can we take to address this problem? Here are six actionable suggestions that focus on measuring food waste effectively. (See also: Stop Throwing Away One-Third of Your Groceries — Here’s How to Change That)
Weigh Your Waste
The Environmental Protection Agency recommends that households devote two weeks to distinguishing “preventable food waste” from scraps that cannot be consumed as part of its Food: Too Good to Waste Challenge.
At the conclusion of each week, measure and document the food items that were thrown away but were still edible. For the subsequent three weeks, implement the EPA’s strategies to enhance your planning, grocery shopping, and food storage. Finally, assess what you waste during the sixth week and consider sharing your (hopefully) remarkable improvements on social media. (See also: Waste Not, Want Not: Don’t Toss Your Food!)
Get the App
In the chaos of daily life, it’s common for food to go to waste because we forget about it. The No Waste app, available for iOS, lets users scan barcodes of food items stored in the fridge, enter expiration dates, and keep track of what you have. If you fail to mark an item as “eaten” before it expires, the app registers that item as wasted. It calculates the proportion of food waste and visualizes your progress with a tree that loses its green as waste increases. Users can also compare their waste statistics with others and see potential savings by consuming what they have purchased.
Create a Food Diary
This printable diary for tracking food waste encourages you to log the quantity of food discarded at each meal, along with the reasons for waste and its estimated monetary value. This approach can help quantify your weekly waste and inspire you to prioritize foods nearing their expiration dates.
Impose Consequences
After gathering data on your food waste using printable forms, apps, or even scribbles on a piece of paper on the fridge, consider applying a gentle form of self-discipline. Deduct the total value of the week’s waste from your grocery budget for the following week. The realization that you might have to forgo that steak you wanted could encourage you to use up the meatloaf instead.
Track It Publicly
While privately recording your food waste is beneficial, why not motivate others by organizing a Watch Your Waste Meal? In the lead-up to your event, log your waste and share images of what you discard, which could even inspire a celebrity chef to create a new recipe!
Take a Picture, It’ll Last Longer
If visual learning resonates with you, consider following The Frugal Girl’s approach by documenting every bit of food you discard with photos. If you’re up for a challenge, sharing these images online could be a powerful motivator! Even a private collection of these images can serve as a reminder to save that leftover kale.
Beyond Your Kitchen
Once you’ve mastered managing waste at home, expand your focus to the vast quantities of food that businesses discard before reaching consumers.
Buy Ugly
In areas like California and Portland, Imperfect Produce offers weekly deliveries of perfectly edible, yet cosmetically imperfect, fruits and vegetables that supermarkets won’t sell.
Take Out the Trash
Currently in beta, the app Food for All enables users to buy unsold food from restaurants at the end of the day, with discounts reaching up to 80%. This resource is currently available in Boston.
Save a Mint
If you are involved in the restaurant industry, consider using the MintScraps app to monitor and minimize food waste.
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