Americans throw out more than 1/3 of the food they buy. Translated to figures, that in $$$ is $165 Billion wasted in one year. Almost everyone is guilty. In almost every home there's always a little food [worth pennies] being thrown out. But even pennies do add up right? Avoid wasting food by buying only what you need for the the day or week if you buy your groceries once a week. Buy only what you like. Never buy food you don't like because it's cheaper. Odds are you won't eat it all = wasted money. And when buying vegetables or fruits, buy only what can be consumed long before they go bad.
I hate wasting food, so I freeze what I can't eat and don't over cook things as too many leftovers makes you eat more than you need. Leftovers are good for when you are busy though, but I do see people who throw them out. I traveled around Asia in poorer countries and seeing people go hungry and struggle always makes me educate people when I see them waste food. There is no excuse, so I do plan what I eat everyday and if I change my mind I freeze it.
I too hate wasting food, because I know there are a lot of people out there who could use it but have no means of accessing it. I have got better over time, and very rarely throw anything out. I shop for groceries on a weekly basis and only get stuff I know I will definitely use. The main thing I buy in bulk are non-perishables.
No. I always make sure there is no food wasted. Even if I am already full, if there is still a slice of bread left on my plate, I would definitely eat it. A lot of people are starving to death, and you will just waste food? That is very shameful.
I try my best to shop sensibly so that all the food will get used without wastage. I also try to cook sensible portion sizes so that my children aren't leaving a lot of food on their plates. However, there is usually some wastage along the way no matter how hard I try.
I used to have a bad habit of throwing away food because I would purchase too much and then some of it would go bad. I am much more conscious now of what we consume and I purchase smaller amounts. If I run out of the specific item before my next scheduled shopping trip, I will either go to the store to get more or we will do without until I go shopping next. Throwing away food that you paid for is the same as just taking dollar bills and throwing them in the garbage can. Another thing I do is if I have a vegetable or something that will be going bad soon, I will look online to see if I can find a recipe for that specific ingredient and then use it up that way. It is a good way to discover new meals to try.
If we're talking about the food I myself buy, then yes. But the food that I see in the house, no. Lots of bread and rice are uneaten and wasted, but I think my dad gives the uneaten food to our relative so that she can feed it to her dog.
I really, really try to make sure nothing goes to waste. I try not to buy things I won’t eat, and I’m good about eating my leftovers. But sometimes I’ll forget I have something, and I’ll have to throw some of it out because it’s gone bad. It’s pretty rare though, so I like to think whatever I throw out is below average.
I will not throw out anything unless it is truly unsafe to eat. If a recipe is a flop, I just say too bad and eat every last bite and scrape the plate clean anyway. All I have to do is remember the pursuers of starving people in different parts of the world and i won't have any problem finishing anything no matter how bad I think it tastes. What I hate is how many terribly unhealthy things we produce. Where I work I have to throw out leftover "scrambled eggs", mystery meat sausages and tater tots made with hydrogenated oil. While I hate waste, reading the ingredients makes me feel like these things are doing more harm than good for the people eating them. It would only benefit someone if they were truly starving and in desperate need of calories just to keep going another day.
That is indeed such a waste. My conscience bugs me every time I fail to consume something I bought. I try my best not to waste the food I buy, so I only buy those I'm sure to eat. If I can't eat what I purchased because I erred in my judgment - I ask someone else in my family or circle of friends to finish what I can't. They're mostly obliging. It's also great if you can just give your extra food to beggars. They'd be more than willing to receive something you're not consuming anyway.
Exercising restraint while buying food items is the first line. It's a crime to waste food when 3rd world countries are finding it hard to get 2 square meals a day. People waste a lot of food over weekend parties. In most cases, thinking ahead saves a lot of wastage and saves us big money too. Shopping for groceries should be a serious activity and not a routine one. If people can put serious thought into it, minimizing wastage is not a big deal.
I eat most of the food I buy. I used to cook a lot more, so would buy more food, but these days, I've cut back on what i buy in the first place. If I buy meat, all but one package goes in the freezer as soon as I get home. I occasionally will have a little produce go bad, but usually, I will play ahead, and try not to waste anything. I also keep extra bread, tortillas, pitas, etc. in the freezer, and take out what I need for that day and the next few days, to extend the life of the products. If I cook food and get tired of eating the same thing after a few days, I will feed it to the stray cats, or put it out in the ditch for the wilder animals.
Yes, I try to have an empty cupboard by the end of the month so that I know I bought exactly the right amount and didn't waste anything. My ex loved to look at full cupboards but ended up throwing away expired food. An empty cupboard at the end of the month makes me happy because we used every package of food and no money went into the trash.
In our house, we avoid wastage as much as possible. When we cook in big volumes, we normally share it with neighbors. But cooking for us, we try to finish everything. With the rice, we keep the leftover in the fridge and steam it over the newly-cooked rice for the next meal. Sometimes we keep it in the fridge for breakfast - fried rice is one of our favorite breakfast.
It is sad to say that we don't usually eat all the food that we buy. We throw many left overs, others got spoiled. I know it is not a good thing and it is a habit that I really need to change.
I think it can be really hard to use every bit of food you buy, I find sometimes there is just not enough hours in the day. Even if you buy the food with the intention to use it the same day, something can come up! I think I am quite good at buying only the food I need, but it can be quite annoying to buy too little, I think it can be better sometimes to over buy food. Al the food is used, as the dogs eat the leftovers sometimes!
It is really hard to get food buying down to a science. I think we do tend to overbuy and get tired of eating the food. I think food buying is one of the things we need to be conscious of when we go to the store. It is so easy to buy too much of something that never gets eaten or to get tired of foods if they make too many leftovers. Remembering to freeze is a good idea with leftover foods.
I was getting pretty out of hand with this several years ago, when I really started getting into cooking and trying out all these recipes I was seeing online and on TV. I would buy all sorts of veggies and herbs and other stuff that I would never normally cook with, just to try out one dish, and the rest of those ingredients would end up going to waste. I really didn't need that bundle of fresh tarragon or chervil, or that bag of parsnips I'll never finish, or those not so great looking "fresh" artichokes I paid too much for. Now I try to only stick to the basics - onions, tomatoes, garlic, parsley, green onions, and on occasion peppers, mushrooms, celery and carrots. I only grab the later items if I know for sure I'm going to be making some stock, or stir fry, or slow cooked sauces. It also helps to freeze some of this stuff right away until waiting for it to look like it's about to go bad. If I buy a large pack of jalapenos for example, there's no way I'm going to be able to finish them all before they go bad, so I'll typically just dice them up and toss them in the freezer. Same goes for onions, when they have a special on a large bag of them.
I try to only buy enough fresh food to last for a week so I know that it will not go to waste. It makes me mad when I have to throw away perfectly good food because it went bad. I also try to plan meals around the veggies, so if I have to buy a bundle of celery for one meal, I will plan other meals for the week that call for that same ingredient. It takes a little more planning, but I save waste and money in the long run.
