How wasting food affects your budget and the environment
Ok be honest: how many times did you throw out food this week?
According to the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 1.3 billion tonnes of food gets thrown into the trash every year, which is actually 1/3 of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally. In the US, Americas discard more food than any other country, nearly 40 million tonnes ($160B)[1] in food a year. and Canadians throw out 6 million tonnes ($31billion of wasted food) this equates to $28 a week or $1,456 a year. When you multiply this number by the typical 18 years that a child usually lives at home, people can easily pay for a year’s worth the of college tuition.
Why do we waste so much food?
There are many reasons why people waste food. Some believe that we waste food because some of us overbuy at the grocery store due to sales, “eating with our eyes” and from impulsive shopping. I like to call this a misalignment between how much food we actually need and what we buy. When a misalignment occurs, it results is the purchasing of more food than what is needed or buying food that we know will not be consumed.
This does not only pertain to grocery food shopping. During the Covid-19 crisis, there has been a large increase in the amount of take-out food purchased and often we underutilize leftovers and toss food scraps that can still be consumed or composted.
When researching this blog post, I learned that our food waste comes from 4 areas:
42% from households
40% of waste is from restaurants, grocery stores, and food service companies
16% of waste occurs on farms
2% from manufacturers
expiration Labels on food
Another area that can add to the loss of food is the misinterpretation of food expiration labels. More than 80% of Americans discard perfectly good food simply because there is a misunderstanding of the expiration labels. Labels like “sell by”, “use by”, “expires on”, “best before” or “best by” are confusing to some people — and in an effort to not risk the potential of a foodborne illness, people simply toss the food item into the trash.
The dates placed on much of our food are not the date when food spoils, but in fact is the date indicative of the food’s quality and taste, hence there is a difference between a “Best if Used By” and “Use By” date.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association, the Food Marketing Institute, and Harvard University have combined efforts to improve the wording on expiration labels on food. There are two key phrases that can tell you what’s still good to consume:
BEST IF USED BY describes quality “where the product may not taste or perform as expected but is safe to consume”
USE BY applies to “the few products that are highly perishable and/or have food safety concern over time.”[2]
As well as being mindful of these dates, we an all learn how to store fresh produce so that it lasts as long as possible; for example some herbs, like basil, prefer to be kept in water, while others could be left dry. Also, potatoes do not need to be stored in the refrigerator, but vegetables like zucchini or artichokes should be stored in high-humidity refrigeration.
Wasting food impacts the environment
According to the FAO, food waste has a 3.3 billion ton carbon equivalent.
Of the food wasted the majority of it ends up in landfills. According to Nature Canada, methane from food waste that ends up in landfills is 25 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide and represents 11% of the world’s emissions[3] like methane, carbon dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons, which contribute to global warming.
Furthermore, according to the World Wildlife Federation, the production of wasted food in the United States is equivalent to the greenhouse emissions of 37 million cars in the USA and 2.1 million cars in Canada.
How you can reduce your food waste
1- When you go grocery shopping
a. Make a list
b. Shop with the meals you plan to have in mind
c. Sometimes our eyes are bigger than our stomachs, don’t go shopping when you are hungry
2- At Home
a. Before gong to the store, take an inventory of what you already have in your fridge and cupboards
b. See how you can take the leftovers in your fridge and turn them into a meal instead of throwing them out
3- Donate items to your local food bank or give it away before it spoils
4- Understand expiry dates and how to properly store your food
The bottom line:
Americans waste more than $218 billion each year on food, with dairy, fruits and vegetables being the food items we toss out the most. So next time you are in the grocery store, please take a moment to think about what you are buying and what you are throwing out. Because when you toss out food, you are throwing out money.
[1] EPA 2021
[2] Natural Resource Defense Council
[3] World Wildlife Fund