Statistics show that in the U.S. alone 66 million metric tons of food is wasted each year, of which about 40 million metric tons of it end up in municipal landfills. This represents between 30 to 40 percent of the overall food supply and the single largest component in landfills.
Once food become refuse, they emit methane gas that accelerates climate change and as temperatures rise decreases the planet’s capacity to absorb carbon dioxide.
The figures are alarming and while many of us only have control over what happens at the domestic consumption stage, it is important that everyone does their part to reduce food waste in their daily lives.
We need to understand exactly when food really should be discarded. Learning the best practices for discarding expired food, which sell-by dating encourages too soon for many items, is a step anyone can take at home. Presently, no regulations at the Federal or State level regulate food safety except in the cases of baby food and infant formula.
Want to do you part? Here’s a list of some simple things to implement in your routine to minimize food waste. The environment and your wallet will thank you.
- Inventory what you already have in your fridge, freezer, and pantry.
- Create Food menus and make shopping lists
- Avoid specials
- Stick to your list
- Beware of bulk
- Rotate older food items to the front
- Store foods like bananas, apples and tomatoes separately as they ripen they make other nearby produce spoil faster.
- Only wash fruits and vegetables right before consuming
- Freeze items that are still safe to eat if won’t be consuming them soon
- Compost food items that have passed their prime and can’t be used. ( In Santa Fe, https://www.reunityresources.com/compost.html )
By buying less and utilizing proper storage techniques, you can keep your ingredients fresh longer, save money, and reduce food waste. You’ll be doing yourself, your community, and your planet a favor.
Label Limbo
These practices can translate to a sizable amount of food waste in a very short period of time. Continuance of this behavior is only going to worsen our current state. To help combat some of this, California passed A.B. 660 to implement long-needed standards in the food industry through the use of two types of labels.
- The first label, “Best if used by,” would be used to indicate when the quality of a product rather than its safety would be at stake.
- The second label, “Expires on” would be used for perishable foods indicating the consumed by date.
Now that improved food dating is law in California, it is anticipated to be adopted in other states to help reduce food waste clarify food labels.
Additionally the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced an initiative to achieve a 50-percent reduction in food waste by 2030. The agency’s goal is two-fold — they also plan to use the food saved from wasteful behavior to increase food security. By teaming up with charitable organizations and companies in the private sector, the EPA envisions greater access for the hungry and those in need to foods otherwise headed to the landfill. These organizations transport food to shelters, soup kitchen, and food pantries, helping reducing hunger for the 48 million Americans who live in food insecure households.
Taken from article by Anna Dement https://earth911.com