The Harsh Reality of Food Waste

8 Quick Tips for Reducing Food Waste

Food Waste

Reducing food waste has become an essential issue in this era. Its reason is that the number of hungry persons has been gradually increasing.

The number of hungry persons has been gradually increasing since 2014. Therefore, we need to reduce food waste or loss. We are wasting tons of edible food every day. According to a report, we are wasting almost 13% of the food between harvesting and retailing. Whereas, 4% of the food is wasted in households. The United Nations General Assembly has declared a day for reducing food waste. It is celebrated on 29th of September each year. The main motive of this day is to share innovative ways with the people for reducing food waste and loss. Here, we will discuss different ways to reduce food waste.

Shop Smart
It is a common habit among the people to buy more than they need. No doubt, buying things in bulk is a convenient way of shopping. The research shows that this shopping method will lead to more food waste. People can easily quit this habit of bulk buying. They have to make frequent trips to the grocery store after every few days. They should use all the groceries before making a trip to the market. Before going to market, they should make a list of the items. After reaching the market, they should stick to this list. It will help them to reduce impulse buying. As a result, it will lead to a reduction in food waste.

Know How to Store Food
We are also wasting tons of edible food by improper storage. If you are interested in reducing food waste, you should learn how to organize the fridge. People should keep ready-to-eat foods on the top shelf of the fridge. They can also keep leftover foods on this shelf. The sealed raw meat and fish can create dripping. As a result, it can damage other food items. Therefore, they should keep these food items on the bottom shelf. There should be a separate drawer for the fruits and vegetables. Sometimes, you may not know about the storage and quantity of food items in your home. To overcome this problem, you can keep track of food storage in your home. Digital storage guides and apps are the best solutions to overcome these problems.

Donate Food for Reducing Food Waste
You may have some food items that you will not eat. If you keep them in your house, they will be wasted after the expiry date. Instead of wasting food, you should donate it. You will find hundreds of people around you who are hungry. They require these food items. Your small act of kindness will not only provide food to a hungry family but also contribute to reducing food waste. Sometimes, you may face some problems in finding deserving people for your food. You can donate it by finding a food bank near you. These food banks will deliver your food to the hungry people.

Think Twice Before Throwing Food Away
Mold is something that belongs to garbage. It doesn’t mean to throw out those foods that are slightly past their prime. Some vegetables and fruits may slightly soften or wilt just past ripe. Before throwing them in the garbage, you should think about their other uses. Instead of direct eating, you can use them in other food items. The soften and wilt fruits are excellent additions to the soups and smoothies. We can also use the leftover vegetable scraps for making soup stocks. In short, if fruits and vegetables appear fresh, we can use them.

Adopt Food Preservation Methods for Reducing Food Waste
If we are interested in reducing food waste, we should also follow canning and pickling techniques. These techniques will extend their shelf life. As a result, it will avoid spoilage. Sometimes, you may buy some extra food. If you don’t use it within a specific period, these food items will be spoiled. As a result, you will have to throw them in the garbage. By following these food preservation methods, you can prevent spoiling and throwing out of food items. For example, you can turn extra apples into applesauce or cucumbers into pickles. Some people may know the pickles of some specific food items. They should know that they can pickle everything from the onions to eggs. They just need to learn basic food preservation methods to avoid reducing food waste.

Eat Less Meat
Eating too much meat is not a future of environmental eating. Its reason is that animals require more resources for their growth, production, and distribution. Therefore, if you are wasting any amount of beef, it means that you are lasting a much negative impact on the environment than wasting an apple. When you buy less meat, there are less chances of wasting it.

Follow the FIFO Rule for Reducing Food Waste
FIFO (First In, First Out) is a rule of thumb for a professional chef. According to this rule, one should rotate older items to the front while unloading the groceries. This technique will help people to grab older items first. Similarly, if you have a fruit bowl, you should keep new apples underneath the older apples. After eating the older apples, you can easily eat the fresh apples. On the other hand, if you do not follow the FIFO rule, you may eat fresh fruits and vegetables all the time. As a result, the older food items will be wasted and become part of the garbage.

Serve Smaller Portions
The research shows that the size of the American dinner plates has been increasing. Its size has increased by 36% since the 1960s. The average restaurant plate size is 9 inches in Europe. Whereas, the average restaurant plate size is 12 inches in America. If we serve meals in larger portions, there are more chances of wasting the food. We should serve meals in smaller portions. After eating a smaller portion of a meal, if we are still feeling hungry, we can demand an extra meal. Serving smaller portions is not only reducing food waste but it is also keeping you healthy and smart.

Conclusion
Food waste has become a major issue that is happening continually on a global scale. The higher income countries are contributing to 40% of the food waste. On the other hand, the number of hungry people is slowly rising. Therefore, reducing food waste has become the basic need of this era. We can adopt various methods and techniques to reduce food waste and loss. We can start by shopping and storing food items smartly. After that, we can donate the extra food to the hungry people. Food preservation techniques are also the best ways for reducing food loss.