That is equivalent to throwing out a grocery bag of food in the trash for every 5 you buy each week.
Consider that, along with this statistic from the National Resource Defense Council – the average American household throws out $2,200 worth of food every year.
These statistics got me thinking about the food waste patterns in our own home. How much money was my household throwing out by not consuming it? What are my food waste traps?
To start, I thought we likely wasted little food as we rarely buy in bulk. We cook often during the week so the chances that we wasted food were minimal. Boy, was I wrong!
Here are a few fallacies I uncovered in that process:
- Fallacy #1: I have time to cook every day
The truth is I rarely have been able to cook daily. Sometimes I just don’t have the time and on other days I am too tired. I buy more food anticipating I will cook it and then rarely do. I now anticipate that I will cook less often and plan for leftovers or to eat out.
- Fallacy #2: I will eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables
I make a great effort to purchase fresh produce each week that includes vegetables and fruit to represent colors of the rainbow. I have good intentions to eat them but overestimate the amount of fruits and vegetables my family will consume.
I now plan to get fruit and vegetables in other ways than eating them fresh. I tap into dessert recipes that would extend the life of less than optimal fruit – like crumbles, poaching fruit or making a fruit compote. I now saute salad greens (like arugula and spring mix) that have started to wilt. I eat eggs for lunch and now sneak in more veggies in my omelet. I also buy less.
- Fallacy #3: I will run out of food
I buy more than I need so I always have extra and I don’t have to run out last minute. This turned out to be problematic because I always forget what is in our pantry and it spoils. Even staples like rice and olive oil go rancid and I have found occasions where I have had to throw those out.
I now check our pantry before heading out shopping, only replenishing when I need to. This check also serves as a reminder of items I need to use in the coming weeks before they spoil.
Planning meals and setting more realistic expectations helped me be more conscious of food I was wasting. I am still throwing out more food than I would like but it is a start. What are some of the food waste traps in your home?
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