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8 Solutions to Food Waste

8 Solutions to Food Waste

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On average, Americans throw away 150,000 tons of food each day! What happens to all that food and is there a best way on how to reduce food waste in America? Here are some solutions to food waste at home.

1. Make Your List and Check It Twice

First, take an inventory of your grocery list as a way of food waste management. Look at the foods and drinks you are buying. Look at what you are often throwing away. It’s probably your once fresh produce that now have a swarm of fruit flies. You have the right idea, but you just need a different strategy.

Often times we have good intentions when we shop, but the big mistake is shopping when you are hungry. When your body is hungry it will have a different brain chemistry than when you are full. Psychology can determine what you buy. Hungry brains buy anything that looks appetizing, while full brains buy what's needed. Your body and bank account will thank you for doing this and you won’t have to throw away your “forgotten foods” because you will have utilized them.

2. Buy Fresh!

Another way to eliminate the wastage of food is to decrease your processed food consumption. Less processing is less waste. Processed foods such as fast foods and microwavable meals lose nutritional value when they are processed and chemically “enhanced”, becoming more complex than their natural forms. Your body will have a harder time absorbing the nutrients. There will be less nutrition to absorb. You stay hungry and will keep eating, usually not turning to nutritious foods that provide what your body is needing.

3. Choose Your Foods Wisely

Protein, fat and fiber - the key to wasting less because you will be buying and eating less. Studies show that a lack of protein, fat, fiber or any combination of the above leads to feeling hungry with a sugar craving. When you have enough protein and fat, sugar craving curbs and satiates the appetite. Fiber helps with digestion and the absorption of nutrients. You will be more full, healthy and less likely to buy highly processed sweets and junk foods.

Buying organic, whole foods is the best way to stay healthy. You can also begin cooking with coconut oils, virgin olive oils and grass-fed butters. Organic nut butters like sunflower butter, almond butter, cashew butter and regular peanut butter are great sources of healthy fats and protein. Remember, healthy fats found in these butters and oils are good for you, vital for healthy brain and body function and will help keep you full. Keeping you full with healthy whole foods helps eliminate waste of processed sugary foods.

4. Get Organized

Keep your food organized. Whether it’s your refrigerator or your pantry you need to keep it as organized as possible. Of course you won’t eat the spinach that you randomly place on the middle shelf behind the milk. Having your shelves in the pantry and refrigerator labeled is a good idea. You can’t go too far when it comes to saving money and avoiding wasted food and resources.

Sauces and condiments can go in the door shelves along with smaller items. Veggies and fruits can go in their own separate drawers. Almond milk and taller containers can go on the shelf with the most height. The stackable items like eggs and premixed salads can go on another. Your prepped meals and leftovers can go in their own space. This way you know what you have, what you may be looking for and where it should be.

These simple organizational skills will also help you recognize which foods you find yourself eating most and first. Don’t save your veggies for last after you have eaten your meats and more savory foods. Get a good mix of veggies, meats and your other food groups like nuts and seeds in every meal.

5. Plan, Prep and Enjoy

Meal planning and prepping is important to making sure you don’t waste food. Prepping holds you accountable to eat the meal you prepared rather than going to the nearest fast food restaurant. On Sunday or Monday, plan out your shopping by finding healthy, whole food recipes that you want for the week. Consistency comes into play -- have weekly or daily staples in your diet to keep you on track.

Breakfast

A simple breakfast staple is a great place to start. Maybe it’s a fruit smoothie with peanut butter or eggs and spinach. Meal staples help you have a better understanding of how much you can eat and how much it will cost. Your grocery bill will stay consistent. After you have your meals planned for the week, prepare them beforehand.

Lunch

Cook your lunch each day at the beginning of the week and put it in glass Tupperware to take each day. This allows you to have a preset amount of food cooked and ready to go. This is a main factor in avoiding food waste.

An example of a delicious meal you could take for lunch for a whole work week would be: Chicken breast, asparagus and sweet potatoes laid out on a baking tray. Generously drizzle it with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper and bake it to perfection to have a healthy meal with protein, fat and fiber for your work lunches.

Dinner

For dinners, your crockpot will be your best friend. Put the ingredients in before work and by the time you’re home, it should be just about ready to eat.

When in doubt, slow cook your food in a crock pot. You can use water, beef or chicken broth, as well as vegetable broth for a vegetarian or vegan friendly dish. If you want to get fancy, you can even create your own bone stock. Make more than you need and save the leftovers for lunch the next day to eliminate waste drastically.

An organized, systematic approach to shopping and prepping for your meals on a weekly basis will surely eliminate your food waste and drastically reduce your dining expenses.

6. Stay Consistent

Consistency is everything.

Keep a basic foods list of what you want to buy and be consistent. Don’t go in blind every time you shop. A basic rule to live by for healthy eating habits is equal parts protein, healthy fats and vegetables. Your proportions don't have to be exact, but sticking around the thirds rule is best.

You can get servings of fruit during other meals, but fruit is not as necessary as we are led to believe. Though fruit sugars are naturally occurring, they are still sugars which the body doesn’t need too much. The American Heart Association recommends the daily sugar intake for men not exceed 36 grams and women not exceed 25 grams. We do not need very much sugar, and though fresh fruit is delicious and has nutritional value, it should be limited to less than every meal (FYI -- fruit is actually a great post-workout food.)

There are hundreds of different vegetables to buy, and dozens of healthy meats and fats so your variations within your meal should never be an issue. Even with the three basic categories, you could come up with thousands of different combinations for a meal.

7. Eat Your Leftovers!

Leftovers are a huge portion of food waste. They are often forgotten and pushed to the back of the fridge. Out of sight, out of mind. Keep them in the front of the shelves to avoid the tragedy of spoiled food.

Leftovers can be difficult to eat because you just had that food that week. We get it -- it's boring. However, if you re-purpose your leftovers, you end up with a different dish.

Heat up your leftovers in a pan with some olive oil. Add hot sauce, spices and a scramble egg and you have yourself a “new” meal with completely new flavor. You can even add elements of the leftovers to your other meals that week.

Get creative!

8. Can You Compost?

No one is perfect. We will inevitably end up missing the leftover veggies in the back of the refrigerator or the moldy raspberries we didn’t notice. Your spoiled food doesn't have to go to waste: You can start a composting pile!

Even rotten fruit and veggies release their nutrients when they decompose into the compost Composting creates fertile, nutrient enriched soil for whatever purpose necessary. Most foods are compostable, although many people don’t add meat to their compost because it attracts animals and insects.

Final Thoughts

Following these principals and suggestions will certainly help you save time, energy, money and eliminate your food waste nearly completely. You may even discover new ways to eliminate food waste and become a healthier, happier and more vibrant YOU along the way.

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