Learn to combat food waste with simple and concrete actions
Food waste is a very important worldwide issue. While one-third of the world’s food is thrown out or wasted, producing it requires more than one-quarter of all the water used in agriculture, and needlessly takes up close to 1.4 million hectares of land—which is equivalent to the surface areas of Canada and India . . . combined! On its own, food waste is responsible for the emission of 3.3 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually, making it the 3rd biggest pollutant in the world!
Food waste 101
First of all, what is food waste? Is it when you toss some potato skins in the trash, pour the last drops of your juice down the sink, or throw a small quantity of leftover salmon in the compost bin? Basically, yes.
Food waste entails throwing away or wasting food that was destined for human consumption. It can happen in the field, during transport, in the factory, at the grocery store, in restaurants, and of course, in your very own home. In fact, close to 50% of food waste is caused by consumers themselves.
It’s high time we change this, but how exactly do we go about doing that? By taking simple, concrete actions on a daily basis. Here are a few tips to help get you started!
Be creative
An easy way to avoid food waste is to get a little creative in the kitchen. Wondering what to do with those leftover broccoli stalks or cauliflower leaves? Sure, you could throw them in the garbage . . . or you could turn them into this succulent broccoli leaf and stalk salad with feta, or whip up a batch of this yummy Asian stir-fry with cauliflower leaves and tofu. Ever stop and think that instead of throwing your leftover ciabatta bread away, you could instead create this mouth-watering sausage stuffing?
Don’t toss, freeze!
Your freezer is a great ally in the fight against food waste. From now on, don’t get rid of your leftover pesto or tomato paste. Instead, freeze them in ice cube trays and use them to make pasta sauce at a later date. Stock up on frozen diced vegetables, such as sweet potatoes and carrots, which you can use to make a delicious roasted fall vegetable soup. And don’t forget to freeze a few portions of fresh ginger—not only will you always have some on hand, it’s also easier to grate when frozen.
Change things up
Think outside the box! Have over-ripe pears in your fruit bowl? Use them instead of apples in your crisp, or swap potatoes for parsnips when making puree.
Transform
Have your green bananas turned black or your avocadoes turned to mush before you had a chance to eat them? Transform them into something yummy! Over-ripe bananas are perfect for making this banana, nut, and squash bread, and those mushy avocadoes will make the perfect avocado and chocolate pie.
Be smart about how you use your compost bin
Today, more and more municipalities have started implementing a composting system for organic materials. While composting helps reduce household trash by 35%, diminish our planet’s greenhouse gas emissions, all while offering many benefits to the environment, it isn’t the, be-all, end-all solution to food waste.
Yes, using your brown compost bin has its advantages, but it’s important you not use it like a second garbage. Before throwing away your celery leaves or chicken carcass, consider using them in a recipe. Strawberry tails make a wicked jelly and potato skins can turn into delicious chips the whole family will love!
From now on, make “waste not, want not” your motto to swear by!