Tips for Eating Well and Wasting Less Food

At Dr. Katharine du Quesnay, we’re big believers in the power of food! After all, it’s something that fuels and heals our body. Unfortunately, something so powerful and important is also prone to waste.

In the United States, it’s estimated that upwards of 30% of all food is thrown away each year. In Europe, households waste an estimated 6.7 million tonnes of food yearly. And country-wide in Australia, roughly $10.5 billion is spent on food items that are never consumed.

While those numbers might be staggering, there is good news. Becoming waste-conscious in regards to your food purchases can be easy with a few helpful tips.

Go to the supermarket more often. This will keep you from over-buying on one trip. When you go twice each week instead of once, you’ll be more conscious of what you still have in your refrigerator to eat as well as what else you’ll need to tide you over until next week.

Consider buying some organic frozen fruits or vegetables. While fresh produce is certainly ideal, frozen produce can offer similar benefits and be just as nutritious. And an added bonus-frozen foods won’t suddenly go bad on you, which means you’ll be tossing out less.

Freeze your leftovers. Have you ever made a really delicious meal that had plenty leftover to feed you the next day? Sometimes, life gets in the way and we forget to consume leftovers, which leads to waste. Instead of storing your leftovers in the fridge for more immediate use, freeze them in a freezer-safe container. You’ll have a longer period to enjoy them.

Keep your refrigerator organized by expiration date. Put foods closest to expiring at the front of the fridge. This can help stop foods from getting lost behind other items.

Labeling. I also use self adhesive labels from an office supply or dollar store to write the name of the item and the date made before freezing or refrigerating.  This works especially well for left over home made salad dressing,  extra marinade or other sauces. You always think you’ll remember what’s in that mason jar…  but when you’re not sure exactly what it is or when you made it,  you’re hesitant to use it and it ends up getting thrown out.

Do you have any other ways that you reduce food waste? Let us know in the comments!

Statistics courtesy of UNEp.org.