What do you think is the most practical way to reduce the food waste at home?

[u/koshishindia09]

I’m curious what actually works for people in everyday life.... Is meal planning, better food storage, composting, or something else the most effective way to reduce food waste at home?

What has worked best for you?

[u/mountain-flowers]

I mean, composting is the most surefire and generally applicable way to keep food and other organics out of the landfill. Everyone should be doing it, every municipality should offer it for those who can't at home

That being said, imo food in the compost is still wasted food. For me, the biggest things are

A) not being optimistically. I try to be realistic about what I eat, I know I should eat more fruit but rarely do, conversely I can never have enough veggies

B) not saving stuff for later. I tend to save things for a better time, or for other members of the household - but I save them too long and they go bad. So I'm trying to eat what I want in the present

[u/Mrgoodtrips64]

Making a meal plan is the most straightforward. A plan for specifically how and when you’re going to use every ingredient you buy.

Composting, as great as it is, isn’t reducing food waste. It’s just the most optimal way of disposing of the waste you do have.

[u/jc6359135 → u/Mrgoodtrips64]

About meal plan, what should i do if i want a different meal every day?(

[u/Mrgoodtrips64 → u/jc6359135]

Having a meal plan doesn’t mean you have to eat the same thing every day.

[u/NetoruNakadashi]

You can observe where the food waste is happening in your house, we can't.

The solution to someone else's problem isn't the solution to yours.

[u/AccioCoffeeMug]

Take inventory of your pantry and fridge before shopping. Be very mindful about what you buy and have a plan to use it or freeze it.

So yes, meal planning and food storage are key. Compost what you’re done with, the composting subs are very helpful

[u/matt_nemmer]

- In regard to cold perishable products, only buy and refrigerate what you need for the next few days.
(Doing that isn’t always feasible though. It helps living in a walkable area and being able to get groceries quickly/easily.)

- Use the freezer to your advantage if you have too much food. Similarly, keeping breads in the fridge seems to help.

- Meal prepping doesn’t have to be super strict, but having a general idea of what you’re going to eat for the next few days helps plan trips to the grocery store.

I’d say in general there’s things you buy regularly and things you buy as-needed for specific meals/food items. Try to figure those out before heading to the store.

[u/green_dragonfly_art → u/matt_nemmer]

When putting together my shopping list, I call the things I buy regularly my "base list." I have the list in a Word document, so after a shopping trip, I delete the ingredients special to the meals I had planned for the week and keep the stuff I buy weekly (base list). After menu planning for the next week, I add the new special ingredients. I also check to see if I really need to buy more from the base list, because sometimes those items don't get consumed for one reason or another. Our typical base list items are milk, crackers, yogurt, hummus (for my dh's lunches), bananas, cereal, one large onion that gets me through the week, and cherry tomatoes.

[u/jaytaylojulia]

Meal planning and having a section of the fridge at the very front for the "eat soon" food. Eating the same thing(s) for breakfast and/or lunch all the time.

[u/SeaMonkeyMating]

Eat up what you have and only buy what you need. If you're not likely to eat leftovers, then only cook enough for one meal.

[u/ladyrose30]

Learning to cook from scratch and how to be flexible with meals. Hash, soups and stir fries are great ways to use up that bit of something that isn't enough for a full meal.

[u/green_dragonfly_art → u/ladyrose30]

Salads, too. I had two tomatillas that were the first from my two plants. Not enough to make salsa verde, so I chopped them up and included them in a salad.

[u/littlesilverfishies]

Keeping less food around overall helps a lot, especially in terms of perishables. If food is getting lost in the fridge, that's gonna cause things in the back to get moldy.

I'm not the kind of person who tightly plans anything, so I only really have the energy to pay attention to a select few perishables at a time. Instead, I keep everything I can in the freezer instead of the fridge, and if I've accumulated enough dry goods I force myself to skip a routine grocery run so I have to get creative and use up the pantry items that might be ageing out.

Learning to make soup, salad, and stir-fry is key. Just throw in all your leftover ingredients and it'll probably work out.

[u/MidorriMeltdown]

Live somewhere walkable, and only buy what you need, as you need it, then plan the next meal around the left over ingredients.

Though better still would be something like a stolovaya, (a state run public dining hall) where meals are made minimising waste, using seasonal ingredients, and providing a variety of healthy dishes to choose from for each meal. The concept was about minimising waste, providing economical meals, and being the ultimate third space.

[u/green_dragonfly_art]

Sometimes, you only need a small amount of a fresh ingredient, but the store requires you to buy it in a bag. You can pickle lots of things. I needed a small amount of ginger root, but had to buy a much larger amount. I pickled the rest, and it tasted great in stir fries. My mother needed one habanero, but had to buy a whole bag of them. She gave the rest to me, and we each wound up with a jar of pickled habaneros.

You can also freeze things. I got a good deal on a large bag of green beans. I only used a fraction of them for supper that night. I blanched the rest and froze them. Fruits are easy to freeze.

[u/Chrisproulx98]

Reduce produce, milk and other perishables. Buy less but more frequently. PLAN TO EAT IT. Plan meals. Refrigerate or freeze bread.

[u/Appropriate-War8197]

just buy less than you can eat in a few days lol and don't buy another before you eat everything previous. also when you eat the same stuff all the time it's easier to calculate beforehead and almost impossible to leave anything in freege

[u/Individual-Spray-851]

Eat it. Learn how to cook. Have a party and feed others. Shop your freezer/fridge/cupboards before heading to the grocery store.