When food rots in landfill (not in compost) it produces methane gas that is 25 times more potent than the carbon dioxide produced by cars. Emissions from food waste in landfill are almost on par with the entire civil aviation industry.
Did you know that we waste about one third of all of our food every year according to the UN? It’s even higher in some high income countries. America wastes about 40% of all their food and about half (half!) of all seafood. Australians throw away nearly $10 Billion worth of food each year. Consumer are as big (or bigger depending on what research you look at and how it’s being measured along the chain) culprits as supermarkets, restaurants, manufacturers and farms.
A lot of food gets thrown out well before it’s gone off because it lost its crunch-factor. An easy fix is to fill up your vegetable tray, crisper or a large container in the fridge with water and keep all of your better-when-its-fresh-and-crispy food bathing in there (we particularly like to soak carrots, celery, grapes, corgettes and green beans). They will often last a couple of weeks with this. Leafy vegetables (think lettuce and spinach) are great in sandwich pockets and nature fibre (like hemp) produce bags with a light water spray. Or wrap your lettuce in a wet tea towel and change it every second day.
Freezing everything that might go off before it does is also super handy. Pop it into cubes to freshen up waters or make paste for example or cut up your produce for smoothies. We also like throwing together a stock, soup or curry with leftover vegetables. What are your tips for reducing food waste?