Restaurants, grocery stores, and households throw away billions of dollars worth of food each year. Food waste in the US has become a critical issue, impacting everything from inflation to climate change. Wasting food is both a systemic and personal issue, and every family can do its part to address the problem.
Americans throw away over 92 billion pounds of food annually, 30-40% of the nation’s total food supply. This equates to 145 billion meals and over $473 billion in retail value.
More than half of all food waste occurs before products make it into consumers’ homes. Farmers, distributors, and grocery stores throw away about 51% of all food wasted in the US for a variety of reasons, including:
Odd-shaped fruits and vegetables aren’t visually appealing
Throwing away food at any point has serious environmental consequences. Food waste accounts for 8% of all carbon emissions globally and is the biggest share of landfills in most parts of the country. Fertilizers, water, transportation, and refrigeration costs associated with preserving food at every link in the supply chain are also wasted.
Everyone can do their part to reduce food waste and save money. Food wasted is also money wasted, so it’s worth planning and investing in ways to address both!
The key to minimizing food waste is planning. Adjust your shopping list to ensure what you buy is what you’ll need over the next 5-7 days. Most fruits and vegetables only last about a week in the refrigerator, so only buy what you’ll use in that amount of time.
Buy food in the amounts you’ll actually use for a new recipe whenever possible. If a meal calls for less of an ingredient than is available to purchase, plan another dish that will use the remainder of the ingredient. You can also double-up recipes and freeze the leftovers, which leads us to…
Frozen food is perfectly good and, according to some folks, even better than fresh! Freeze leftovers and reheat on busy evenings to enjoy a home-cooked meal in minutes. Not only will you minimize food waste, you’ll also save money on unhealthy fast foods.
There are differences between “Best by,” “Use by,” and other expiration variations. Don’t toss food on its expiration day or shortly after; take the time to determine if the food is still okay - odds are, it’s fine!
You can address food waste at home but don’t forget about commercial food waste in your community. In Traverse City, Food Rescue of Northwest Michigan rescues and distributes over 2 million pounds of food annually, helping to reduce waste and feed families in need. The organization delivers more than 7,000 pounds of food daily to 70 food pantries across a five-county region. Consider volunteering or donating to Food Rescue of Northwest Michigan today.
Get the right equipment and resources to preserve food at home at Max’s Service. We’re proud to offer energy-efficient refrigerators and freezers to make saving food easier. Stop in and see us in beautiful Downtown Traverse City and support locally-owned businesses in our community. Get in touch or call (231) 947-6830 today to get started!
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