海角大神

Thanksgiving is the holiday that reminds all of as eaters to be grateful, especially for the season鈥檚 bounty provided by farmers, farm laborers, chefs, and food service workers. But, unfortunately, we also waste an astonishing amount of food.聽

Each year, consumers purchase over 700 million pounds of turkey, according to the National Turkey Federation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) projects that 35 percent of the meat purchased does not get eaten--ending up in landfills, along with sweet potatoes, green beans, pumpkin pie, and other holiday fare.聽

Around the globe, roughly one-third of the food produced for human consumption gets lost or wasted. This amounts to about 1.3 billion tons per year--which is enough to feed the nearly 1 billion people who are hungry today. A report by the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition found that 110 kg of edible food is wasted in households in the United States, 108 kg in Italy, 99 kg in France, 82 kg in Germany, and 72 kg in Sweden.

While food waste presents some serious moral challenges, it鈥檚 also an environmental issue. The U.N. Environment Programme reports that the food wasted annually is responsible for adding 3.3 billion tons of greenhouse gasses to the planet鈥檚 atmosphere.

Thankfully, organizations like the聽World Resources Institute (WRI),聽the聽Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC),聽Feedback,聽and the coalition of funders and organizations called聽ReFED聽are fighting to put an end to food waste by measuring food loss and setting goals to prevent it. WRI, for example, launched the first-ever聽Accounting and Reporting Standard聽for food loss and waste this year, and they are champions of the Sustainable Development Goal that aims to cut per capita global food waste in half. And ReFED produced聽this video聽highlighting food waste in the U.S.

This Thanksgiving, one of the best ways to be grateful for what you have is to avoid wasting it. Here are tips for a waste-free holiday.聽

PLAN AHEAD.

It鈥檚 easy to avoid buying and preparing too much food if you make a plan for your feast. Get an exact headcount of how many guests you will have and then coordinate what dishes will be served.聽According to the NRDC, you should consider the fact that there will be plenty of dishes available to eat, so each person may not need a full portion size of every dish. Use聽a portion calculator, and then 鈥渢ry knocking the number to 戮 of the actual number of people you expect. If it鈥檚 a recipe you use often, take notes after the party to remind yourself how appropriate your multiplication was,鈥� says Dana Gunders, senior scientist at the NRDC.聽

USE WHAT YOU HAVE.

Once you know your numbers and your dishes, take a look in your refrigerator or pantry to see what ingredients you already have before heading to the store. Sometimes, cans or jars hide in the very back of your storage area, where you forget about them. If this happens to you often, consider using聽Fridgely, an app that lets you record and track what鈥檚 in your fridge.

When you find a long lost food item, use your judgment regarding 鈥渟ell by鈥� or 鈥渂est by鈥� dates, as they are just guidelines. Products may still be good long after their expiration date. Author and food waste expert Jonathan Bloom suggests, 鈥渓ook, smell, and if it comes to it, taste it before you throw it away.鈥澛�

After taking stock of your ingredients, make a shopping list using the proportions you鈥檝e calculated and only buy what you need.聽The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends聽marking quantities on your list, so you remember exactly how much to buy.聽

RESCUE DISCARDED 鈥淲ASTE.鈥�

We throw away many food items that are perfectly good just because they are traditionally considered to be garbage. Turkey giblets, bones, stale bread, and vegetable scraps all have value beyond the compost pile.聽The EPA suggests聽repurposing these items to prevent waste and save money. Stale bread makes great croutons or stuffing, vegetable tops and bones can be turned into聽highly nutritious, flavorful soup stock, and turkey giblets add flavor to gravy.聽

ALLOW GUESTS TO SERVE THEMSELVES.

Instead of scooping out huge portions of dishes, let guests gauge their hunger levels and serve themselves the amount they want to eat. A buffet or family-style meal will help minimize plate waste. Guests should be mindful of taking just what they want, because it鈥檚 always better to come back for seconds than to leave uneaten food on a plate. Using smaller plates for the meal can help control portion sizes.聽

STORE FOOD PROPERLY AFTER THE MEAL.

It鈥檚 tempting to sit and relax for hours after eating, but leaving food out can lead to bacterial contamination.聽The USDA鈥檚 Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) warns聽that the 鈥渄anger zone鈥� for food is from 40掳F to 140掳F. Bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli grow most rapidly in this temperature range, so you should never leave food at room temperature for more than two hours. After everyone finishes eating, clean up your feast quickly and then enjoy the rest of your evening.聽

LOVE YOUR LEFTOVERS.

As you鈥檙e packing up the meal, figure out the best way to deal with the leftovers. Store some of the food in your own fridge to repurpose in聽interesting new recipes. Cooking with leftovers makes dinner a simple and quick affair. Plus, provide plenty of reusable containers for guests to take some of the feast home with them.聽Gunders suggests聽using old yogurt containers to send with guests, or ask each person to bring a container for themselves.聽

DONATE TO FEED THE HUNGRY.

If you still end up with too much food, you can聽locate a local food bank聽and donate your excess food to those in need. Also check out organizations such as聽D.C. Central Kitchen聽and聽City Harvest, which use donated food to cook meals for those in need.

This article first appeared in Food Tank.聽