The holidays can so often lead to over-buying, over-eating and, sadly, food wastage. But it’s not just the festive season that inspires this behaviour. The statistics are shocking.
According to a recent article from The Guardian, each year, 1.6 billion tonnes of food worth approximately $1.2 trillion, goes to waste – about one third of the food produced globally. All this while the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that about 815 million of the 7.6 billion people in the world (10.7%), were suffering from chronic undernourishment in 2016. Food waste and loss also accounts for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the FAO.
We HAVE to do better!
Here are some simple ideas to avoid food wastage:
- Plan your week’s meals. It might seem like a hassle at the time, but knowing what you’re going to cook means you know exactly how much to buy. This means more savvy spending and no waste! Win-win.
- Shop weekly, especially for your fresh vegetables and fruits. Trying to do a monthly shop is probably going to mean food wastage as you’ll buy more perishables than you can consume. Veggies shouldn’t sit in your fridge for more than a couple days, so rather do smaller and more frequent runs to your local grocer or sign up to receive a weekly, seasonal and organic veggie box (email us about ours if you’re interested).
- If your veggies need to be consumed, cook them and freeze them for later. Whether it’s a homemade tomato sauce, veggie lasagne or curry, use your perishables to cook something that can be frozen and eaten later. Don’t throw food away!
- Write down all the food you throw away and keep the list on your fridge. Seeing your food wastage in black and white might be the shock you and your family need to start treating your food more carefully.
- Try keep the food for your planned meals in 5 to 7 containers only so that you can easily see if you’ve over-bought. Keeping your fridge zoned and tidy gives you a bird’s eye view of your food at all times. Don’t let food lurk and hide!
With food security at risk and global warming on the rise, we need to take more responsibility for the food we consume. Get on board!
Please share your food saving tips with us and let’s make the change together.
