In this era of environmental crisis, we all must do our part to reduce waste. Reducing food waste is something everyone can do to benefit the environment.

The sad fact is, more than one third of all the food produced in the word goes to waste, and one billion people could be fed by the food wasted in Western Countries alone.

Many people, especially those in heavily urbanized areas, are extremely ignorant when it comes to knowing where their food comes from. In one survey, the majority of urban dwellers did not know that their meat and dairy products came from living animals. Unfortunately, the survey did not query the respondents as to where they did think meat and dairy foods came from, which could give valuable insight on how to improve public perception about food production and consumption.

Reducing Retail Food Waste

One area of concern with vast room for improvement is retail food waste; the amount of food thrown out by grocery stores and restaurants is tremendous. If you work in a grocery store, you could convince the management to donate unused or out of date food to a food bank.

Likewise, if you own, or work in a restaurant, consider purchasing equipment that conserves resources, such as hamburger moulder equipment that measures precise amounts of food so that you don't use more or less than you need. Also, at the end of the day, you could offer prepared, perishable, unsold food to those in need.

Eliminating Food Waste at Home

There are many ways to reduce or completely eliminate your home food waste. First, don’t buy food you’re not going to eat. Sometimes, for our health, we think we should eat something we really don’t like. Be honest, even if you buy it, you probably won’t eat it.

Second, if you have children, be mindful of their portions. Children probably waste more food than adults, simply because they can’t eat a large portion. Many children are also picky eaters, and will refuse to eat food they don’t like.

Another way to reduce food waste is to compost; composting involves turning vegetable food waste into healthy garden soil. If you have a yard, consider starting a compost pile. It will not only help to reduce food waste, but it can also be used to grow your own organic vegetables.

Another healthy strategy for reducing food waste is to make your own bone broth; rather than throwing out your chicken or beef bones, you can boil them down into an incredibly nutritious broth. This broth can be used in many different healthy recipes.

It’s up to us all to take action, and reduce food waste in any way we can. The environment depends on it.