REDUCING FOOD WASTE AT HOME

“Wasting food is not only an ethical and economic issue but it also depletes the environment of limited natural resources.”  Every year, more than 88 tons of food is thrown away only in the European Union countries, while about 1.3 billion tons worldwide.  Many careless actions are the main reasons that are threatening the future of our world. Sadly, we are guilty of all of the horrible things relating to food waste. There are many ways we can stop food waste, such as regulating our shopping schedules, storing food wisely and cooking only the needed quantity.

Usually, people buy all their needed supplies all at once. Even though this may be very convenient, as it reduces the amount of time and money you spend on traveling to the supermarket, it is a very harmful habit and the main factor of food wasting. Well, when we do buy in big bulks we can buy more food than needed or buy food that is already in your house, therefore, wasting food. A helpful way to get rid of this bad habit is by planning your shopping by checking what is needed for the week and then making a list. By doing this, you are also buying fresher and more healthy products like fruit and vegetables instead of cans of pre-made sauces, chips, and many more junk foods.

To follow, another major reason for food waste is when food spoils or is not safe to eat anymore. Consequently, we should learn how to use and store food correctly. The products can become ripe very easily, leading to spoilage. This is why you should always either consume them as soon as possible or store them properly. Check when the “use by” dates are due, and remember to not confuse them with “best before.” “Best before” refers to the date up until the food retains its expected quality, so even after the date, the meal is safe to eat. Instead, you should not eat the meal after the “ use by” date. There usually are two dates on food. One is the “best before” date, which is the date where the product isn’t at its maximum quality or freshness and the “use by” date, which tells us when the food is not good anymore and we have to, therefore, throw it away. These two dates are not to be confused as many people throw their good food away after the  “best before” date is reached.

Finally, another great way to reduce food waste is to cook wisely. For example, when cooking for gatherings or big groups we tend to cook more than the necessary amount needed. This results in a waste of food. So, be careful with your amounts when cooking for big quantities, but don’t worry. If you find yourself at the end of a day with leftover food just put it in the fridge so you can use it the next day, for a sandwich or a soup.

These three ways to stop wasting food at your home are some of the many that can prevent the world from suffering more. Not only does the environment suffer from the consequences of it, but also those who can’t afford proper meals every day. Global warming, clearing of trees, and malnutrition are only a few of the results of throwing out food. By following these 3 easy and helpful methods, many problems in our world today can be put to an end.

WORKS CITED

Dicke, Marcel. “Why not eat insects.” Ted.com. TedconferencesLLC. Jul.2010. Web. 10 Mar. 2019.

European Commission. “Food Waste.” Ec.Europe.eu. European Union. 2016. Web. 10 Mar. 2019.

“Facts.” Foodwasteeffect.eu. Avac Technologies. 2016-2017. Web. 10 Mar. 2019.

Lyons, Kate. “Cutting Food Waste by a Quarter.” TheGuardian.com. The Guardian News and media limited. 12 Aug. 2015. Web. 10 Mar. 2019.

Kubala, Jillian. “20 Easy Ways to Reduce Your Food Waste.” healthline.com. Healthline Media. 20 Nov. 2017. Web. 10 Mar. 2019.

3 ways to reduce food waste at home

Food waste

10 million tons of consumable food go to waste in France every year. Each person would throw about 20 kilos of food still consumable each year, which represents 1.2 million tons of food that end up in the dumpster.

I think some French people could use their wasted food for compost. That’s a good idea to start reducing food waste . In France, the school Henri Le-Moal had an idea, the students practice composting their own meal tray waste. Thanks to the practice of composting,the students will valorize the inevitable waste of their plates as for example, the peelings of the fruits.

    

Next, Instead of putting the leftovers in the trash, they can be used for lunch the next day, for dinner the next day or to be frozen for another occasion. This will help not to waste and spoil a good meal. In France, many families started to do exactly the same thing. Some supermarkets also started stepped in for food preservation. They are sold cheaper. this helps to reduce the loss of food and waste.

finally prepare a shopping list. When you have to go shopping to fill the fridge, you must make a list and respect it. like that when we go shopping we buy the necessary for the week without excess. This can help reduce food waste. The list is a very good way not to take everything.

The conclusion is that we must be careful for the future of our planet so be careful not to waste food. these three ways of not wasting food are good options. They already help many families to waste the food they buy.

Works Cited

Boyer Marianne and Dumas Eugenie, “en France , le gaspillage alimentaire en chiffres’’, lemonde.fr ,Le Monde, 7 june 2018,Web,10 march 2019

European commission, “Stop food waste”, ec.europa.eu, european commission, web,10 march 2019

“Réduction du gaspillage alimentaire et compostage au collège”, ouest-france.fr,Ouest France, 8 march 2016, Web , 10 march 2019

“La fin du gaspillage alimentaire”, nestle.fr ,nestle ,Web, 10 march 2019

Three ways not to waste food you can do at home

Have ever thought of the huge amounts of food we waste there is daily? Only in the United States of America around sixty billion tons of food are wasted each year. So I would like to propose to you three ways you could start to act on the global problem of food waste.

First of all it starts with your shopping habit. Do not get carried away on that biscuit aisle just because you are hungry. Shop strategically. Plan your shopping list and always remember to check your dates on the items just so you don’t have to throw your food away because it has expired.

Then always be sure not to over quantitate your meals because you don’t want to throw away the food you don’t eat. Instead, do like my mother does. She puts it in a container and stores it until the next meal.

Finally you can turn waste food into a positive thing for the environment. If for some reason food isn't usable just put it into an organic bin so that with time it can become some really good organic fertilizer. This is a good alternative to throwing it away.

This is a really important topic globally and if we don’t take action now then this world the world we know and love will not exist anymore with time. We don’t have any time left to decide so if you want to contribute then please take an act and follow our guide.

Bibliography

2016/10/16, Food Waste, European Commission, https://ec.europa.eu/food/safety/food_waste_en

3 Effects of Food Waste on the Planet

In Europe about 88 million tonnes of food are wasted annually.

With some goodwill, we can reduce food waste and protect our planet.

Three effects of food waste on our planet are the waste of water, the waste of fossil fuels, and the release of methane gas into the atmosphere.

First of all, Water is used to grow the crops that are then transformed into the different products we eat. It is used to water the animals whose meat is eaten by us. It has many other uses, such as producing energy, growing trees, powering installations, plants, facilities. We live on water. Yet, we waste it. When you throw food in the trash don’t you ever think about all of the resources expended to produce that food? Water is one of them. It gets wasted along the food you throw in the bin because it has been used to no avail.

Water isn’t the only resource involved in the production of food. Fossil fuels are also utilized in this process. They power the machinery which plants, harvests, transports, sorts, cleans, and packages food. Though, differently from water, fossil fuels are not a renewable resource. Once wasted, they are gone. If we want to continue relying on fossil fuels for energy, we will have to use them well, which obviously means not wasting them.

Finally, Wasted food is gathered in landfills. That food then decomposes, or rots. Rotten food releases methane gas, which, unfortunately, is a greenhouse gas. This means that when we waste food we are harming our planet. Methane gas is 25 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, and accounts for 20% of greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions adversely affect earth’s climate.

If we want to preserve the environment we must not waste food.

This is a really important topic because the future of our planet depends on the decisions we make and the things we do nowadays. If we decide to preserve the environment and act in order to limit food waste, future generations will be able to live on a healthy planet. If we don’t do these things, whether there will be a future generation or not becomes a dilemma.

Hawthorne, John. “5 Ways Food Waste is Destroying Our Beautiful Planet”. New Food. newfoodmagazine.com. Aug 9, 2017. Web. Mar 14, 2019.

Food waste consequences

 FOOD WASTE BLOG

Did you know that only in the United States 38 million tonnes of food are wasted every year? Three problems that we face when we waste food are the production of greenhouse effect gases , the waste of natural resources , and unnecessary pollution.

First of all,  the production of greenhouse gases is a very important problem that we are facing nowadays.The problem of the greenhouse gases is caused in a big majority by the animals we breed.If we breed the animals that produce methane , which is one of the gases that are bad for the atmosphere, and then we throw them to the trash , we are creating food just for polluting and making problems.

Another problem that we face when we waste food is the waste of natural resources such as water , crops.If we use the lands to let the animals grow and then we transport them to the supermarkets using petroleum to move the trucks , and then we throw them away , we are wasting the resources that we used on that animal and we didn’t get any benefit out of it.

Finally, by wasting food we are also polluting , because we have to use vehicles to plant the crops for the animals and to transport them. By using petroleum we are wasting natural resources and we are polluting with no sense.

In conclusion , by wasting food we are contributing to climate change , polluting and creating greenhouse effect gases .To stop this we should measure ourselves and know how much food we are going to use .

Another thing we can do is to put in Tupperwares the leftovers and eat them other day , this is also a benefit for us because we will save money and we won’t have to cook every day.

Three ways to reduce food waste at your home

How much food do you think is wasted in the world in one year? Only in the EU around 
88 million tonnes of food waste are generated annually. It’s a huge quantity considering 
that all over the world there are people starving and the environment is greatly
damaged. If you think that food waste is not your problem, you’re wrong: food waste 
starts in your own home. I was part of the people who didn’t pay attention to what 
they wasted, but after I got informed, I changed my mind. There are many things 
you can do to reduce food waste and save the environment, for example you can
follow these three easy steps at your home: plan your shopping, check the dates, 
and freeze the food.

First of all, planning your meals for a week and checking the ingredients in your
fridge are good ways to save food. For example at home I usually eat what I like in
that moment without considering what food was in my fridge. Very often I threw away
vegetables and food I could use to prepare my meals. It wasn’t so easy to change my
habits but I had to and now I’m learning to plan my weekly  meals. When I go to
the supermarket, I know exactly what to buy and I try to avoid extra food that I don’t 
need. I also try to respect my schedule every day and I’ve noticed that the amount
of food waste is considerably reduced.

Next check the dates! If you are not planning to eat a certain type of food with
a short “use by” date, look for a longer “use by” date or just plan to buy it on the
day you require it. This is linked to the step of planning your meals. You have to
eat first the food with a shorter “use by” date in order to avoid wasting them. Food
products are still safe to consume even after the indicated “best before” day. So
don’t be scared by the date. It only suggest you when it is better to consume the food.
I learned that it’s possible to avoid to waste products by cooking cakes and other
recipes. On the Internet there are infinite recipes that show you how to save products.
Very often I prepare sweets and cake to finish milk, yogurt or fruits and in this way
I avoid buying pre packed food that I wouldn't finish. This also makes me save money.

 

The last advice I can give to you is to freeze your food. If you sometimes cook extra
food or you don’t want to respect your schedule meals and eat something completely
different, take care of freezing it. Freezing food is a good way to preserve the food
qualities, if you know that you aren’t going to eat that food in a short time. My mom
usually freezes tomato sauce, bread and boiled vegetables. It’s a very easy method to
have food ready to be eaten. Especially when I’m tired or when I'm alone at home I
take frozen food, I put it in the microwave and then eat it. It’s very quick and easy.

In conclusion there are thousands of ways to reduce food waste at home. Everyone

should play a role in this process and be active in saving the environment. As I said
it’s not easy to change your habits especially when you are used to a great supply
of food at your disposal. I had some difficulties at the beginning, because I thought
that my food waste wasn’t so big and that I didn’t have this problem. I’ve understood
that everyone must reconsider their attitude toward food. Day by day I’m learning
new tips and improving my behaviour. With a very small effort we can easily change
the condition of the environment.

Works Cited

European Commission, “Food Waste”. Ec.europa.eu. European Union. 2016. Web.
7 Mar 2019.

European Commission. “Stop Food Waste”. Ec.europa.eu. European Commission. n.d Web.
7 Mar 2019.