Miscellaneous

Food Wastage and Smart ways to avoid it.

food wastage

Food wastage/loss happens during various stages of the food supply. Though we may or may not be able to stop food wastage or loss completely, we definitely can play our part and preventing food wastage at the household and individual level.

As per the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States, One-third of the food produced for consumption is lost or wasted globally which is around 1.3 million tons of food. It also states that HUNGER is one of the biggest challenges in development.

 

A few tricks to prevent food wastage or loss-

Conduct regular Food Inventory

We often tend to stock up on a lot of food in the house. Regular Inventory ensures that we know which foods are getting spoilt or are nearing expiry. Thereby preventing unnecessary food wastage.

Inventory of pantry and fridge before you go shopping

Pantory inventory

Conduct a thorough inventory before you go shopping, that way you won’t end up buying extra. If possible maintain a written record of the inventory.

Plan your meals ahead of time

Prior meal planning helps to understand what needs to be purchased and what can be avoided. Thereby preventing unnecessary wastage of both money and other resources.

Shop Smart

Create a shopping list and stick to it. Don’t fall for the buy one get one or free gimmicks. ( Click here to get your shopping list. )

Buy locally and seasonally-

local market

The local farmer’s market provides you with fresh and seasonal produce as required. There is a double benefit in doing so, you promote local farmers and feed yourself and your family healthy & seasonal foods.

Learn to read food labels-

Once you understand food labels, choosing food for consumption and stocking becomes easy. The key is to read the ingredients and the other details like manufacturing dates, expiry dates, allergens etc.

Stock wisely

Food inventory

Whatever you buy, make sure you read the food label and understand how that particular food is stored and store it accordingly. Proper storing improves shelf life and prevents wastage due to spoilage.

Use FIFO technique

FIFO is first in-first out. You first use what you bought first. A simple trick is to arrange food as per it expiry or spoilage rate, that way you know what is to be used first and use it accordingly. Thus preventing food wastage.

Freeze the excess

Certain foods can easily be frozen. When you know you have excess food, you can easily freeze the food that doesn’t get spoilt when frozen. Eg. Peas, ginger, etc.

Use the scrap

Scrap composting

While using veggies we often have peels, stalks, leaves, etc. Some of these are super nutritious and can be used in several dishes or can be used in making stock. The rest can be used to make compost and used as manure for your kitchen plants. That is how one can use all the food waste constructively.

Watch what you throw

Keep a check on what you throw. Sometimes certain foods are wasted regularly eg. Chapatis or bread etc. Once you realize it, you can easily cut down wastage by reducing production or purchase.

Use leftovers

Several dishes can be made using leftover foods like chapatis can be used to make laddoos/ bhaji while leftover vegetables can be used to make cutlets/wraps etc and spoilt or soggy veggies can be used to make smoothies.

Think out of the box

Mix and match different ingredients to create new dishes. That way you can purchase less but make interesting dishes.

Share or donate as and when required-

If you think it’s excess share or donate as and when required but don’t waste.

Author: Aditi Prabhu

Nutritionist

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