How Can We Reduce Food Waste?

Have you ever thought about how much food we are wasting? In 2014, Americans disposed of more than 38 million tons of food waste and 40 percent of food in the United States goes uneaten. This shows us that we are wasting too much food. When we waste food, we are also wasting other resources such as energy, money, water, and time, etc. So as to reduce food waste, we can do some easy things that everyone can do, such as making a shopping list, buying as much food as we can eat, and checking the fridge often.

First, we can make a shopping list before going shopping based on the meals that we will eat for the following week. Prior to making a shopping list, we must check our fridge and kitchen to avoid buying something that we already have in our kitchen. Thus, we can buy only what we need for our home.



Then, we mustn’t buy more food than we eat and need. If we do not eat all foods that we bought, they can decay. As a result of decaying, we have to throw them away. For this reason, we must plan how much food we need.

Finally, we must check the fridge often. Besides this, we must also control the foods according to their expiration dates.  If the expiration date is about to finish, we will consume them before the others. Actually, we can sort the products in accordance with their expiration dates. In this way, the foods we have cannot exceed the expiration dates. Also, we can eat the foods before they decay.

If we can do these easy things that everyone can do, we can reduce the food waste, save money, and protect the environment.

Works Cited

1. Dicke, Marcel. “Why Not Eat Insects.” Ted.com. TED. Jul. 2010. Web, 4 Apr. 2017.
2. Gunders, Dana. “Wasted: How America is Losing 40% of its Food. ” NRDC.org. Natural Resources Defense Council. 2012. Web. 4 Apr. 2017.
3. “Reducing Wasted Food at Home.” epa.gov. United States Environmental Protection Agency. 2017. Web. 4 apr. 2017.
4. “Waste Not Want Not Blog.” Readwritethink.org. IRA/NCTE. Jun 28. 2012. Web. 4 Apr. 2017.