Tips to help you reduce food waste
Food waste is a bigger problem than many people realize. About one-third of all food produced in the world is thrown away or wasted for various reasons. This equates to about 1.3 billion tons each year. Due to global warming in the recent period, it is predicted that big awareness can be created with small measures in order to establish the concept of sustainability in kitchens and tables.
Unsurprisingly, industrialized countries like the USA have been found to spend more food than developing countries, but don't assume that food waste in our country won't impress you.
Throwing away edibles doesn't just mean wasting money. Discarded food decomposes to produce methane, the second most common greenhouse gas, in landfills. In other words, throwing away your food contributes to climate change.
Also, a lot of water is wasted. According to the World Resources Institute, 24% of all water used for agriculture is lost to food waste each year. That's 45 trillion gallons (about 170 trillion liters). You can help reduce waste with the little tips suggested in this article.
Shop smart
Most people tend to buy more food than they need. While buying in bulk is economically viable, research has shown that this shopping method leads to more food waste. To avoid buying more food than you need, you can go to the grocery store every few days instead of shopping in bulk once a week. Also try making a shopping list and stick to it. This will help you reduce impulse buying and reduce food waste.
Store food correctly
Improper storage leads to large amounts of food wastage. Because many people do not know how to store fruits and vegetables, fruits and vegetables can eventually rot. For example, potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, cucumbers and onions should never be stored in the refrigerator. These products should be kept at room temperature.
Separating foods that produce more ethylene gas from those that do not is another way to reduce food spoilage. Ethylene promotes ripening in foods and can cause spoilage.
Foods that produce ethylene gas while ripening:
Banana
Avocado
Tomato
Melon
Peach
Pear
Scallion
To prevent premature spoilage, keep these foods away from ethylene-sensitive products such as potatoes, apples, leafy greens, strawberries and peppers.
Learn to protect
You might think fermenting and pickling is the new fashion, but food preservation techniques like this have been used for thousands of years. Pickles, a type of preservation method made using brine or vinegar, may have been in use since 2400 BC.
Pickling, drying, canning, fermenting, freezing make foods last longer and thus can help you reduce waste. These methods not only reduce your carbon footprint but also save you money.
For example, canning and turning an over-ripe apple into puree or pickling fresh cucumbers will provide you with a delicious and long-lasting food that even kids will love.
Keep your refrigerator free of clutter
You've probably heard the phrase "out of sight, out of mind". This is especially true when it comes to food. While having a well-stocked fridge can be a good thing, an overstuffed fridge can be bad when it comes to food waste.
Keep your refrigerator tidy so you can see the food clearly and recognize when it has been purchased. A good way to organize your refrigerator is to use the FIFO method, which stands for "first in, first out". For example, when you buy a new pepper, place the new ones behind the old one. This helps to keep old food from being wasted, used.
Consume with their peels
Many people remove the skins of vegetables when preparing meals, the skins of fruits when eating, and the skin of chicken before cooking. In fact, the outer shell of fruits and vegetables contains many vitamins and minerals, especially oil. For example, apple peels contain large amounts of fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Chicken skin is also full of many nutrients, including vitamin A, B vitamins, protein. What's more, chicken skin is a great source of selenium, an antioxidant that helps fight inflammation in the body.
These benefits are not limited to chicken and apple peel. The outer skins of potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, mangoes, kiwis and eggplants are also edible and nutritious. Not only is it delicious to eat the peel, it's also economical and reduces food waste.
In a nutshell, you can help create change every day to protect some of the world's most valuable resources. Even the smallest change in the way you shop, cook and consume food will help reduce your impact on the environment. With little effort, you can support a better world.
