How to Reduce Food Waste: Part 1

Kim Galeaz | Posted on November 13, 2017

food waste

How about a new family tradition? Why not come together as a family and reduce food waste moving forward?

I thought tackling food waste would be appropriate – not to mention budget-friendly – since all of us tend to waste enormous amounts of food. And not just fresh produce. We unfortunately pitch half-eaten food that wasn’t stored properly. Or unnecessarily pitch canned, boxed and jarred foods that are beyond their “best by” date. We feel guilty, but we keep doing it.

So post these tips where everyone in the family can see them. Assign specific family members to specific tasks. And hold a family meeting each month to see how you’re doing. No matter how small your efforts, you are making a difference.

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2. FIFO

This stands for “first in, first out.” Simply put, when you buy new items, they should go in the back or behind or underneath older items. Use up the older stuff first. Otherwise, one rainy day you’ll discover a can of baked beans from 2010 you never used or a package of cheese from 2016 that got stuffed to the back of the deli bin. Or worse yet, a package of frozen ground beef in the chest freezer from 2015. Wasted food, wasted dollars.

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Hopefully these tips help you and your family get started on the right track, and be sure to check back in the spring issue for part two of ways to reduce food waste this year.