According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the world wastes at an estimated 1.4 billion tons of food each year. Of that, the United States discards the most food than any other country in the world at nearly 80 billion pounds each year.
In a 2019 research study by the Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, low income households spent on average $4,400 on food annually while higher income households spent on average $14,000 annually.
Food waste in the United States is mainly attributed to households followed by the restaurant and food/grocery retail industry.
The most common factors that attribute to food waste are... 1) Misinterpreting or not understanding what dates mean on food 2) Little knowledge on food storage practices 3) Poor use of leftovers
The following are tips on how you may achieve to help reduce food waste.
Interpreting Dates on Food
The common theme among dates printed on food is more so about quality versus the actual date food may become unsafe or inedible to eat. It is best to get an understanding of what these dates mean, but use your own discretion on how you want to interpret these dates to make a decision whether to keep, eat, or throw.
Use By and Best By - these dates are used interchangeably for food and both mean the same thing. This is a date printed on food that is determined by the food manufacturer. Its purpose is to estimate the food manufacturer's promise of excellent quality and experience of the food before it ages and loses that quality. This date is not an indication of purchase, expiration, or safety.
Sell By - this date is mostly used by food and grocery retailers. It tells the retailer how long to display the product for sale for inventory management. This often applies to foods made in-house (on-site) at the retailer. This is not a safety or expiration date.
Freeze By - this date is not as common, but may pop up on certain foods. This date indicates when a product should be frozen to maintain highest quality. The date is not an indication of purchase, expiration, or safety.
Expiration / Expired By - this date is often found on perishable items, especially eggs, dairy and non-dairy beverages, and possibly meats. This is in place as an estimator of when a food item may be spoiled or unsafe to eat. It is possible for food to be consumable even after this date. Remember - this date is an estimator.
This date is also applied to medications. In this case, the expiration or expired by estimates the time when the medication is not as strong or is ineffective to perform its intended purpose.
Basics of Food Storage Practices
Most refrigerators have cold and hot spots with temperatures that can vary between 33F to 38F. In general the back of the bottom shelf and the back of the top shelf are usually the colder spots of the refrigerator. That is because most refrigerators have their fan and condenser nearby those areas; as well, cooler air tends to sink heavier in the bottom area. As for the middle shelf and those on the door side, they tend to be a little warmer.
Don't underutilize the crisper drawers. Humidity is important for keeping vegetables fresh. The crisper drawers, usually at the bottom of the refrigerator, are designed to reduce cold air from circulating in those compartments. Some crisper drawers have sliders that control the ventilation into the compartment to allow a person to adjust moisture levels in the drawer. The key to maximize humidity is to have it below the point where moisture would bead on the vegetable's surface.
Properly freeze food by reducing freezer burn risk. Freezer burn will start to happen when ice crystals start to form on the surface of food as a result of lost moisture. This causes food to shrivel up, become dry, and tough to eat. Though it pertains more to the quality of food, it does not affect the safety of food for consumption.
Minimize oxygen exposure as much as possible from your food. An example is wrapping your meats in plastic wrap followed by foil and then in a freezer bag. Use vacuum packaging that will help suck out oxygen from your food storage container. Vacuum packaging not only helps save space (depending on the storage container or package), but also eliminates enough oxygen to reduce moisture in food from evaporating.
Save Those Leftovers
Let's face it. Not many people like eating leftovers. If you think about it, not eating leftovers is additional money lost. The World Wildlife Fund reports 11% of the world's greenhouse gasses are attributed to food waste. If you are unfamiliar with the term greenhouse gas, they are gasses in the Earth's atmosphere that trap heat. The primary greenhouse gasses are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. Methane is the primary greenhouse gas produced from food waste as food rots in the landfill. The Environmental Protection Agency reports 22% of landfills are made up of food waste annually.
Label and date your leftovers. A general rule of thumb is store in the refrigerator no more than a week or in the freezer up to a month. If you know you are not going to eat leftovers right away, freeze them!
Be creative. Leftovers do not just have to be eaten as they are. Take chili for example. Bored of eating a bowl of chili? Use the chili as a topping for hot dogs or brats, make nachos and use chili instead of making Mexican-seasoned ground beef.
Leftover steak? Slice up thin strips and reheat into fajitas. How about dicing up the steak for a delicious beef stroganoff?
Plan to Eat Leftovers. Sometimes our food waste from leftovers is because we just simply forgot all about it. Plan out a consistent day each week where you and/or your family will dedicate a meal to eating up the leftovers.