Here’s a quick riddle for you:
What is the most expensive food in the world? Although it’s of high cost, nearly every American household has some in their kitchen.
(pause for thinking)
No, not caviar, truffles or expensive imported cheese.
The most expensive food in the world is wasted food. No matter what type of food it is, if you don’t eat it, and it instead goes to waste, you paid money for something that provided absolutely no value to you or your family.
There are estimates that anywhere from 1/3 to ½ of all food purchased in the United States is thrown away. From restaurant portions that are undeniably just too large to leftovers that never get eaten to food that is never cleared from one’s plate, there is a lot of waste in this country.
As an aside, I had to chuckle when our family visited a theme park earlier this year and saw on a trash can the words “WASTE PLEASE.” Yes, I know, they were encouraging the “waste” to go in the can, not encouraging wasting, but it still struck me.
So how do you avoid wasting food? Well as a parent of two young children, I can tell you it is not easy to avoid throwing away a bit here and there. As much as I try to give R and G reasonable portions, and further, try to eat (within reason!) things that they don’t finish, we are not without waste in our family.
Here are a couple tips to avoid excessive food waste:
--start small. Yes, I would love to give my boys a plate with a dozen green beans on it and hope they would be eaten, but realistic portions usually allow for less waste. Of course, you have to balance portions with your expectations of what they should eat, ie, don’t give them just one green bean, but encourage them to eat more.
--eat later. Dinner is a family event at our home, but for breakfast and lunch, I try and wait to eat until after R and G. Though this approach is not for everyone, if the boys don’t finish their lunch, I sometimes use it as part of mine…within reason!
--rotate foods. When you purchase something in bulk or large quantity, make sure you use the older item first.
--crusts=breadcrumbs. Though we don’t do a lot of sandwiches in our home, when we do make sandwiches, my boys are not big crust eaters. You can cut off the crusts prior to making the sandwich and save them to make into breadcrumbs.
--check those leftovers. Make sure you give your refrigerator a once over every couple of days to make sure things that need to be eaten soon, are consumed.
What are your strategies for making sure you reduce the amount of food your family wastes?