The other week, I posted about the huge amount of food that is wasted on a daily basis in the United States (see HERE): almost 40% of our food supply is wasted. While you may not have direct control over what happens on a large farm or within food processing facilities, you can control what happens in your kitchen. Since US consumers throw away roughly 25% of the food they buy, that can add up to huge savings. Below I will discuss some of the ways you can reduce food waste at home.

The basic principle that underlies all of these suggestions is really simple: buy only what you need, and then eat whatever you buy. Here are some concrete ways to assist you in doing just that:

1. Shop your refrigerator first. If you already have a bunch of perishable food, eat what you have instead of buying more.
2. Plan ahead. Meal planning can help you figure out what you need to buy for the next week (or however often you shop). If you know what you’re going to eat for each meal, you’ll know what you need to buy and you’ll have a plan for everything you bring home. You can read a bit about my meal planning HERE and HERE.
3. Know yourself. If you don’t like to cook or don’t have a lot of time for cooking, don’t plan meals that require complex preparation. If you eat out a lot, you may not need to keep a lot of food in your house. Knowing your own habits (and, of course, the habits of your other household members) will go a long way in helping you decide what to buy.
4. Make a shopping list. Write down everything that you need to buy. We keep a pen and paper list that we add items too as we’re running low (see HERE). We also add items from our meal plan to the list, so that we’ll have everything we need for the next week. Write down exactly how much you’ll need and then buy only the items and quantities that are on your list so you don’t end up with extra.
5. Don’t buy more than you can eat. Avoid impulse buys, unless it’s something you’ll know you’ll be able to finish within its shelf life.
6. Shop sales smartly. Don’t buy an item, or more of an item, simply because it’s on sale (see HERE). It’s not a good deal if you can’t or won’t finish it before it goes bad. If you see an unexpected sale on an item, buy it in place of one of the items on your shopping list.
7. Buy ugly produce. Buy foods that other people might pass over because of an odd shape, size, or color. This helps to use up foods that might otherwise be tossed.
8. Buy aging perishables. My local health food store has a section where they greatly discount perishables that are getting near the end of their shelf life. If you’re going to use something within the next day or two, you may be able to find some great deals. This can simultaneously save you money and keep these foods out of a landfill. But only do this if you’re sure you’ll use them before they go bad.
9. Buy frozen instead of fresh. While fresh produce is best, frozen produce has pretty much the same nutritional value. If you are routinely throwing out fresh vegetables and fruits that are going uneaten, consider buying frozen instead. While you can’t use them in as many ways (for example, you wouldn’t use them to make a salad), you can still eat healthy plants and they won’t go bad in your freezer if you don’t eat them within a week.
10. Prioritize your eating. If you bought something that will go bad quickly, eat it first. For example, cook the chard before you cook the cauliflower, and eat fresh fish the day you bring it home.
11. Know what’s in your refrigerator. Keep track of the food you have, so you can eat it while it’s still fresh.
12. Organize your refrigerator. Put leftovers in one spot in your refrigerator so you spot them easily and eat them. If they get pushed to the back, they’ll likely end up a moldy mystery mess.
13. Use older foods first. Move older foods to the front of your pantry and refrigerator. This way you’ll see them and remember to use them first. Put the newer items in the back. If you have items that are nearing the end of their usable life, plan your next meals around them.
14. Keep a stocked pantry. By keeping basic staple ingredients on hand, you’ll be able to make up meals utilizing the fresh ingredients you already have.  (see HERE)
15. Keep tabs on your refrigerator itself. Make sure your refrigerator is working well, and set at the proper temperature.  Foods last longer if they’re kept at colder temperatures (though not so cold as they start to freeze).  The same is true for frozen foods.  Make sure the seals don’t leak, the vents aren’t blocked, and the temperature is set appropriately.
16. Prepare only what you’ll eat. If your family doesn’t eat leftovers, prepare less food so you don’t have them.
17. Serve only how much you’ll eat. So you don’t end up throwing away half a plate of food when you get full, check in with your body before you serve up your plate and only dish up how much you think you’ll eat. You can always go back for seconds. That way, already plated food will be eaten instead of wasted.
18. Eat leftovers. If you have leftover food, eat it for another meal. I intentionally make enough to have food to leave us with leftovers. We routinely eat leftovers as lunches, and frequently as breakfasts. I find it simplifies my life by making so I don’t have to prepare another meal from scratch. You can brown bag them for lunches on the go, or freeze them for later meals. (see HERE)
19. Freeze leftovers for future meals. If you have leftover food that you don’t think you’ll eat within the next few days, freeze it and you’ll have an easy meal for another time.  Freezing leftovers in single-serving containers will allow you to have a quick, healthy meal on hand when needed, plus it makes good use of food that would otherwise go uneaten.  (see HERE)
20. Order carefully at a restaurant. Know the portion sizes of a particular establishment, and order only what you think you’ll eat. Split a dish with a friend if you know the portions will be too large for you.       If you’re at an all-you –can-eat establishment, take only what you’ll finish.
21. Bring home restaurant leftovers. If you go to a restaurant and don’t finish your meal, bring the rest of it home. You can eat it at another time. These leftovers make an easy meal for the following day.
22. Have a “Use it Up” meal each week. Have one meal a week designated to finish up leftovers and things that might get overlooked or otherwise go unused.
23. Store your food effectively. Know what should be stored in the refrigerator and what should be stored in your pantry, as well as how those items should be stored, in order to maximize the shelf life of the food you buy. Use airtight containers for things that might otherwise go stale or dry out – Mason jars are great for this. Knowing where to keep your food in the refrigerator can also help fresh foods to stay usable for a longer period of time.       For example, produce stored in produce drawers really does last longer.
24. Understand food dates. There is a difference between best by, use by, sell by, and expiration dates.       Also, these dates are generally not related to food safety, but rather tell when a food will be of the highest quality. The best way to tell if food is still good to eat is to use your eyes and your nose. If you see mold or decomposition, or the item smells off, then put it in your compost pile. If you don’t, it’s probably fine to eat.
25. Use food creatively. Find uses for the edible parts of food that you don’t normally eat. For example, stale bread makes great croutons or breadcrumbs, beet greens can make a delicious side dish, and carrot greens and broccoli stems are fantastic in homemade vegetable juice.       Bones and cartilage, as well as vegetable and meat scraps, can be used to make stock.
26. Don’t over process your food at home. Leave edible peels on fruits and vegetables (such as carrots, cucumbers, potatoes, or apples). It’s definitely simpler and often healthier to simply clean and eat the produce instead of peeling it first.
27. Have a backup plan. If you buy a food for a specific dish or occasion and for some reason it doesn’t happen (for example, the party gets cancelled), find another way to use it. The food doesn’t need to go to waste simply because you’re not using it as you initially intended.
28. Have a plan for aging produce. Make smoothies, juice, or soups from fruits and vegetables that are starting to get soft or wilt. These are great ways to use produce that may be nearing the end of its shelf life.
29. Use leftovers to make delicious eggs. Leftover vegetables, sauces, meats, and cheese all go great in a scramble or in a frittata. In our house, we frequently remake leftovers this way.
30. Freeze food. If your food is reaching the end of the edible part of its lifecycle, and you can’t find a way or don’t have time to use it now, then freeze it. We freeze fruit to make smoothies, desserts, and baked goods. We freeze chopped vegetables so they’re ready to throw into a quick batch of soup.  We also keep a bag for frozen bananas, as well as another bag for frozen fruit to be put in smoothies.       You can freeze most things for later use. As a note, not everything comes out of the freezer with the same texture it went in with, so you’ll have to experiment with how you’ll use these items once you pull them out of the freezer. For example, previously frozen greens are great in smoothies or soups, but not nice in salads.
31. Preserve food. If you don’t want to freeze you, you could also can, pickle, dehydrate, fermenting, vacuum sealing, sugaring, or salting the foods you won’t be able to finish. There are many traditional methods of preservation that people utilized before fresh foods were so cheap and widely available. This is a great way to take advantage of seasonal abundance and to utilize it until the next harvest. Employ a few of those to use up the food you have on hand.
32. Give food away. If you can’t finish the edible food you have on hand or if your pantry contains items you’ll never use, give the food to family, friends or coworkers.       Donate untouched foods to a food bank or homeless shelter. Use that food to feed people who are hungry.
33. Keep track. Write down everything you throw out for a week or two. If you have items that you routinely only finish a portion of, perhaps you can buy a smaller size or freeze part of it as soon as you bring it home?
34. Compost. If you try to do all of these things, but still end up with items that are going bad, then compost the food instead of sending it to a landfill.       This way, it can enrich the soil instead of rotting anaerobically in a dump where it will release lots of methane gas (foods don’t get enough oxygen in a landfill to return to the soil in the same way they would in a compost pile). Composting your kitchen and garden waste will turn it into free, healthy fertilizer that will help to make your garden more beautiful.

I hope these suggestions help you to think about ways to reduce food waste in your own family. I know it’s something we’re striving for in my home.