Eating it All is Bad, Throwing it Away is Worse, What to Do?

Americans are a wasteful people. According to research, about fourteen percent of all of the food bought in the U.S. ends up in the garbage. Wasted food composes approximately 12 percent of the content of landfills - some of this food, vegetables, fruits and grains - produce methane gas once they decompose. A few obvious methods to combat this would be to eat all our food or only purchase what we will us. There are other methods available that may help save both the environment and your waistline:

Make a list - People tend to do more splurge buying when they shop without a list, and when they shop on an empty stomach - no list? and an empty belly? What out! Over shopping can lead to wasted food. Buy one get one free sales are great, but if you don’t think you will be able to finish what you buy before it spoils, you would be better off not buying it. Planning Ahead is easy to do. Simply take a little extra time before your shopping run to jot down what you need to buy. Consider the duration of time you want the food to last, whether or not you can freeze any of it, etc. before you proceed with your shopping.

Cook less - By cooking less, I mean you should actually cook less food, I’m no suggesting a diet. Sometime people cook too much food, if this food goes to waste, not only is the food thrown out, but there is wasted energy too. If you absolutely must cook a lot, or if you just can’t break the habit, make sure what you have an abundance of may be used in other dishes. For example, If you have left over grilled chicken, you can use it to make soup.

Farmers’ Markets - Be sure to buy fresh from farmer’s markets and to only eat what you buy. Buying what you’ll use will cut down on waste, and farmers’ markets reduce pollution (your food travels a shorter distance) and packing (most farmers’ markets use little packing.) There is a great farmers’ market in Union Square on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. If you’re near, let us know we’ll take you out for a wheat grass shot, on us!

Written by: Donnell Peavy