how to avoid food wastage at home?
Answers
Answer: 1. Buy smart, buy well
2. When cooking, cook the right quantities
3. Don’t throw away excess food: keep it and eat it later
4. Store your food in the right places
5. Organise your fridge
6. Don’t only trust the date, but also your senses
7. Freeze fruits or vegetables
8. Convert food waste into compost!
9. Give it away to someone who will eat it
Hope it helps you
Explanation:
Ah, childhood meals: Flinging peas at your sister, hiding more peas under the mashed potatoes, and being scolded by an adult for avoiding the consumption of said peas — “Clean your plate! There are starving kids in Africa.” At a young age, we learned to feel guilty for wasting food while other people don’t have any. And maybe we should. Because here’s something astounding: The amount of food waste produced globally each year is more than enough to feed the nearly 1 billion hungry people in the world.
But does that mean we should stuff ourselves even when we’re full? Nope, that’s not helping anybody. So what’s a pea-hating child-turned-adult to do?
First of all, don’t let the guilt paralyze you. Cutting back on food waste is incredibly easy, and we’ve made it even simpler by putting together 29 tips designed to reduce food waste at the grocery store, at home, and during meals.
Sir (or Madam) Waste-a-Lot — The Need to Know
Experts tend to differentiate between food loss and food waste. Food loss occurs when food is thrown out or somehow decreases in quality during processing (i.e., before it hits supermarket shelves); it’s mostly an issue in so-called developing countries. Food waste, on the other hand, tends to be a major issue in “developed” countries such as the U.S. It refers to situations when food makes it to the end of the food supply chain but still doesn’t get consumed. Currently, one third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally. That’s about 1.3 billion tons of nom-worthy edibles per year, and less than a quarter of it could feed hungry people the world over.
Unfortunately, the U.S. is currently one of the largest culprits in this waste-making racket (see: the video above) . Some sources estimate Americans trash as much as 40 percent of our food supply every year, and food waste is one of the largest components of solid waste in U.S. landfills.
And we’re not just wasting food: All those groceries in the trash add up to almost $165 billion lost annually, not to mention the environmental resources that are wasted on growing food that’s thrown away. Wasted food creates billions of tons of greenhouse gases (major culprits in climate change) and needlessly consumes precious land and water resources. All of these numbers are so startling that the U.N. has recently begun a new global campaign, Think Eat Save, dedicated to combating food wasted by consumers, retailers, and the hospitality industry.
Now that we’re all sufficiently depressed, it’s time for the good news: We as individuals can implement small changes that make a big difference in the amount of food we throw away each year. Just pick and choose from our list of tips for reducing food waste below (or go hog wild and do them all!).
Waste Not — Your Action Plan
At the Store
1. Shop smart. Plan meals, use grocery lists, and avoid impulse buys. This way, you’re less likely to buy things you don’t need and that you’re unlikely to actually consume. Buy items only when you have a plan for using them, and wait until perishables are all used up before buying more. Check out these apps for extra-easy meal planning.
2. Buy exactly what you need. For example, if a recipe calls for two carrots, don’t buy a whole bag. Instead, buy loose produce so you can purchase the exact number you’ll use. Likewise, try buying grains, nuts, and spices from bulk bins so you can measure out exactly what you need and don’t over-buy (Just note that there’s a difference between buying in bulk and buying from bulk bins; the first one can actually create more waste if we buy more than we can realistically use). Bonus: This tip will save some cash, to boot.
3. Be realistic. If you live alone, you won’t need the same number of apples as a family of four (unless you really like apples). If you rarely cook, don’t stock up on goods that have to be cooked in order to be consumed (such as baking supplies or dried grains and beans).
4. Buy funny-looking produce. Many fruits and vegetables are thrown away because their size, shape, or colors don’t quite match what we think these items “should” look like. But for the most part these items are perfectly good to eat, and buying them at a farmer’s market or the grocery store helps use up food that might otherwise be tossed.
5. Have a Plan B. Let’s say you buy Camembert to make a fancy dish for that fancy dinner party — and then the dinner party is canceled. Don’t toss the cheese! Instead, come up with a backup recipe and use it in a different dish (or just eat it plain, because c’mon — it’s cheese).