Food Waste

Millions of pounds of food is wasted everyday in America. We are all to blame when it comes to food wastage. Everyone of us, waste food in some form or the other, or at some level, directly or indirectly. Over buying, over consumption, over ordering are all to blame for.

Today - When you order lunch or dinner at a restaurant or take out - be sure to order only portions that you really can finish, and really 'need' to full fill your nutrition goals. If the place does not carry the portion sizes you want, make sure you order something that you can actually save for later. - A soggy sandwich will not make a good leftover. Think about all the food we throw out of refrigerators. All those leftovers from dinner and lunches, that we never eat. Best bet is to avoid buying too much food.

When you do carry out food, try to use places that offer paper or recycled paper food containers. If you bring your food in plastic containers, be sure to rinse them out and recycle them. Storing food for a longtime in plastic containers or reheating the food in the plastic containers in a microwave should be avoided as well.

Take Stock and Buy Right

One of the most common mistake most of us make is WASTING. Buy only what you really need. I mean...really really need. For today, lets just focus on Food, the most waste is done with food products. We often buy more fresh produce than you really need or can use within the time it stays fresh. Why buy more fruit than you can consume over a week. Why more bread that you will use in a few days? I know, the bananas are half-off , but hey are you really going to eat 4 bananas a day, for the rest of the week? In most cases, they go bad in a matter of 3-4 days.

Put up a little note on your refrigerator today and take stock of all fresh produce and put the expiration date next to it. Do this today! And you will see how much stuff you have that can go waste pretty soon. Use it in order of expiration. If you cannot use it within the time range, cook the produce and store the cooked food - cooked food lasts a few days more than the fresh produce in the fridge or freeze. May even save you lunch money.

Reducing the amount of food we waste everyday, can help so much in saving money, and more than anything else, not wasting food is a such good feeling. How many us have thrown out a whole bunch of grapes, a few bananas, or that spinach bunch that went bad in just 2-3 days. Don't waste your time and energy trying to find ways to keep things fresh longer, focus on buying just enough and use it before they go bad.

tip: Putting up a note on the fridge is probably your best bet. You may also keep a list on your computer to keep track and also make a quick list to take to the grocery store. Keeping track of the food supplies in the house is such an important step. Keeping a list of other products in the pantry along with expiration dates also helps greatly.