This morning I threw away two chicken legs, uncooked. Earlier this week, I removed them from the freezer and put them in the fridge to thaw. Then I put away some groceries in front of the chicken... and they got lost. I forgot about them until too late.
I felt bad about tossing the chicken, but it smelled bad. It was definitely spoiled, and who wants to risk food poisoning? Fortunately, I bought the chicken legs in bulk for 79¢ a pound, so the loss was small. Still, every time I sort out the refrigerator I throw out wilted vegetables and past-prime or even moldy leftovers. The individual cost of these items is usually small... but they add up.
I wonder how much I would be cutting from my food budget if I could eliminate most of this waste? Maybe 25%, according to the experts, because it turns out that in the US, consumers waste 25% of the food we buy.
I think the main reasons I personally end up throwing out food are these:
What I see is that I need to recover some of the organization and planning skills that I used when my kids were home and I was planning and cooking daily meals. In the more relaxed environment of empty-nesthood and retirement I’ve slacked off a lot. I’ve stopped planning my lunch and dinner menus, and I almost never take a really careful look at what’s on hand before planning menus or heading out for groceries.
More discipline is called for in the case of impulsive fast food meals, of course. But discipline, planning and organization are at the heart of all these new and better ways of doing things to limit food waste.
Food wastage is a big issue not just in our personal budgets, but in environmental responsibility as well. Because food production consumes a significant amount of the energy used nationally, as well as most of the fresh water used in the US, cutting back on personal food waste lessens our energy and water use footprints and cuts greenhouse gas emissions.
I really want to do better at this. I hate throwing food out. My raised-during-the-Great Depression mom definitely inculcated frugality concepts in me. But more importantly, cutting my food waste is just a good thing to do for myself as well as the environment.
I felt bad about tossing the chicken, but it smelled bad. It was definitely spoiled, and who wants to risk food poisoning? Fortunately, I bought the chicken legs in bulk for 79¢ a pound, so the loss was small. Still, every time I sort out the refrigerator I throw out wilted vegetables and past-prime or even moldy leftovers. The individual cost of these items is usually small... but they add up.
I wonder how much I would be cutting from my food budget if I could eliminate most of this waste? Maybe 25%, according to the experts, because it turns out that in the US, consumers waste 25% of the food we buy.
I think the main reasons I personally end up throwing out food are these:
- I buy too much of something and am unable to use it all before it spoils. I do this a lot with fruit and vegetables.
- I cook too much, and even though I always save leftovers, they don’t always get used.
- Things get pushed to the back of the refrigerator, effectively disappearing until it’s too late. This is what happened with my chicken legs.
- I don’t keep track of what needs to be used soon, so that I can plan to use it up before it expires. I used to go through my refrigerator once or twice a week and make a list of what needed to be used right away.
- I haven’t been planning out lunches and dinners that incorporate my soon-to-expire items. I used to make that “use soon” list just before making a weekly menu plan and shopping list.
- I know something needs to be used, but I impulsively choose to eat something else that I like better at the moment, or to pick up a pizza, hamburger, or other quick meal instead.
More discipline is called for in the case of impulsive fast food meals, of course. But discipline, planning and organization are at the heart of all these new and better ways of doing things to limit food waste.
Food wastage is a big issue not just in our personal budgets, but in environmental responsibility as well. Because food production consumes a significant amount of the energy used nationally, as well as most of the fresh water used in the US, cutting back on personal food waste lessens our energy and water use footprints and cuts greenhouse gas emissions.
I really want to do better at this. I hate throwing food out. My raised-during-the-Great Depression mom definitely inculcated frugality concepts in me. But more importantly, cutting my food waste is just a good thing to do for myself as well as the environment.
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