I’ll admit it; I am a terrible food shopper. Most of the food that I purchase ends up in the garbage can of my kitchen. It is not something that I am proud of. But, according to a report published by the Natural Defense Council, I am not alone. At least 40% of the food that is purchased in the U.S is not eaten which means that we waste over $165 billion a year in uneaten food. That is unbelievable! I mean, I knew that I wasted food, but I didn’t know that almost half of everything that I prepare on my cutting board was wasted. In order to be a smarter shopper and avoid wasting food in the future, I decided to search for ideas on how to make my food (and yours) last longer.
And here is what I discovered.
Wasting food occurs in the home
Eating everything that you purchase is hard enough when you live alone, but it is even harder when you live in a big family. People who live in large families tend to buy things in bulk. By doing so, they believe they are saving money and that they will have enough food to last a long time, but nothing last forever, especially when it comes to food.
You would think that with the American economy slowing recovering from a recent recession, people would make sure to eat everything that they buy. But, food in the US isn’t as expensive as you would think, because there’s is plenty of it. As such, most families don’t follow a weekly budget when the time comes to buy groceries and they don’t care that almost half what they buy and serve on their cutting boards ends up in the trash.
Tips to avoid wasting food
Another good idea is to take a look at your fridge before you leave for the grocery store. Make a list of what you already have in order to avoid buying it again. For more tips on how to avoid wasting food, take a look at this article over on the Whole Foods Market