How big is our food waste dilemma? Read the first installment of our food waste series here.

With so much food waste happening before the food even reaches our plates, it can become discouraging. You may think that there is nothing that you could do to make a difference. The thing is that changes big and small can be implemented to reduce the amount of food that is wasted around the world, country, and your home.

We just need a place to start.

For the purposes of this article, “food waste” and “FLW” will be used interchangeably when referring to food loss and waste.

5 ways to eliminate food waste on a pre-consumer level

Provide proper training

Food waste on the harvesting level is the main concern in developing countries. Education and staff training on proper techniques for harvesting, handling, transporting, and other steps in the food process can decrease losses related to damaged products.

2. Second-chance produce

Fruits with lumps & oddly-colored veggies-- better known as “ugly” produce are destroyed or repurposed because of consumer’s unwillingness to eat something less than picture-perfect. By offering discounted second-grade goods (mainly produce but this can apply to dented boxes, blemished eggs, etc.) that aren’t as aesthetically pleasing but still safe and nutritious to eat, grocery stores can reduce waste, make fresh produce more cost-accessible, and recover profits previously lost on discarded goods.

3. Partly gone food

Produce can become partially unusable due to rough handling, an insect, or mold damaging part of the fruit or vegetable. This produce doesn’t need to be tossed. By drying, freeze-drying, canning, pulverizing (for sauces), or freezing the good parts of such produce, the flavor and nutrients are preserved.

Reclaiming produce, just like reclaiming wood, takes more time and care upfront. With wood, you have to remove the old nails, refinish the boards, and make it into something new. With produce, extra energy must be put into sorting, preparing, and processing the foods before they go to market. Both have wonderful results that significantly decrease our waste and strain on natural resources.

4. Utilizing emerging technology

EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge provides access to technology and data management resources that help businesses improve sustainable food management strategies and divert more food waste from ending up in a landfill.

5. Reduce portion sizes

The amount of FLW generated from restaurants has steadily increased over the past few decades. A major reason for this is the gigantic portion sizes common in most American restaurants. With the human stomach being approximately the size of one’s fist when empty, it is no wonder that the amount of food left-over can be enough for a second or third meal.

If that food isn’t taken home and eaten later, it adds to the ever-growing count of foods and resources wasted. By normalizing smaller portion sizes at restaurants, we can decrease the “excess” that is lost after each meal.

What can YOU do to shrink our food waste crisis?

A larger change must happen on the consumer level to uproot our relationship (or lack-there-of) to our food.

Use Leftovers

Leftovers are the second-most thrown away food category (after produce). Taken home from a meal out, brought over from a friend’s, or cooked in your own home, leftovers always seem to find their way into the fridge. Some are quickly gobbled up (like cold pizza in a house with teens) but others are forgotten about, banished to the back of the fridge, never to be eaten again.

This doesn’t need to be the case! Even the most basic of leftovers can be spiced up with new vegetables, protein, or *wait for it* spices.

Leftover rice from a takeout meal? Make it into fried rice and throw in that leftover broccoli and chicken from the night before.

Leftover meat from taco night? Make them into fun grilled cheeseburger nachos!

Made a sourdough starter but keep tossing globs as you feed the yeasty beast? Try some of these recipes to make use of the yummy dough.

Find more creative and simple ways to reinvent your leftovers here, here, and here.

Still don’t think you can finish your leftovers before they go bad? Stick them in the freezer! This works especially well with liquid-based dishes like soups, chilis, or sauces but can work in a pinch for most foods.

2. Give Some Food Away

Ok, maybe you went a bit overboard at the start of this pandemic and bought a truck-load of canned beans. Maybe your kids decided they won’t eat that type of rice (that you just bought a five-pound bag of) ever again. Or cereal isn’t on your spouse’s new diet and you can’t eat 20 boxes of Wheaties alone.

Donate it!

Give what you can't use BEFORE it expires.

Although many organizations are pushing for the relaxation of liability laws when it comes to donating food, this applies mostly on the production side. Make sure to donate canned and dry goods before their expiration date! Most food pantries will not take donations that are expired for health and safety reasons.

Go through your pantry a few times a year and pull out anything that has a stamped date in the next four months.

Think you’ll use it? Put it back.

Just passed thanksgiving and you have six cans of cranberry sauce best by February? Donate it.

You can also utilize applications and messaging platforms to share the excess with neighbors. Apps like Nextdoor, Facebook, and OLIO are perfect for offering your overflowing garden tomatoes or a multi-pack of something that you didn’t like the flavor of.

Whereas the other two are general platforms, OLIO is specifically designed to help reduce food waste by connecting neighbors, businesses, and organizations to get food where it can be used.

3. Normalize Less Than Perfect Produce

Lessen the prevalence of the idea that produce must look “perfect” in order for it to be safe to eat. Education, marketing, and pricing can all lessen food waste by normalizing the variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and textures that naturally occur in each fruit and vegetable type.

If we relax our stringent visual standards that growers and markets aim to meet, a higher percentage of produce grown can be sold to consumers.

4. Be realistic with how much food you buy

Just because the grocery store has a buy-one-get-two-free deal on rotisserie chicken, it's not a good deal if you can’t use all of the food before it goes bad. Keep in mind what your household will reasonably consume while grocery shopping is essential to limiting FLW.

NOTE: this is even more important during COVID times. Many people stockpile food only to have it go bad before it can be consumed. Buying extra non-perishable foods such as canned vegetables, dry rice, and shelf-stable milk is better than milk and eggs that will be tossed after a few weeks.

5. Think about where your food came from

The more invested we are in our food, the less likely we are to waste it.

Whether that be starting a small garden to understand the effort needed to grow produce, talking with farmers at a local farmer’s market or Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) pick-up, or learning about the steps it took to get food into your fridge, knowledge can empower you to waste less food.

6. Keeping food better, longer

Smaller-scale versions of the methods used to save “partly gone food” outlined above can be utilized at home.

Freezing produce when it just starts to turn can add weeks or months to the usable lifespan of that food.

Cutting up washed fruits and vegetables before freezing makes them even easier to add to smoothies, soups, pasta, or other dishes.

Other foods like meat, sauces, and soups can also be frozen.

Read this page for helpful freezing tips. Foods can also be dehydrated or canned for longer-term storage, just make sure to follow a recipe and trusted directions to avoid botulism and other health risks.

Want more ways to help reduce FLW? Check out the links in this article as well as the additional resources below.

The UK’s “Love Food Hate Waste” campaign

Sustainable America’s Food Waste Quiz and information

ReFED’s guide to larger scale food waste solutions

SaveOnEnergy’s guide to Converting Food Waste into Power

Ways to Eliminate Food Waste