Food waste is a huge problem in America with 40% of all food being thrown away. And, waste during the holiday season only gets worse.
According to the EPA Americans waste 25% more between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I don't think that this waste is intentional, but it is monumental! I think that most of the waste can be boiled down to several problems like overbuying, not having enough storage containers, and getting sick of eating too much turkey.
According to The Turkey Federation 46 million turkeys are purchased every year, and the average turkey weighs 16 pounds.
A study done by the BBC reveals that 200 million pounds of edible turkey is thrown out each year.
To do some quick math 46,000,000 x 16 = 736,000,000 / 200,000,000 = 3.68
That's almost a quarter.
Almost a quarter of all the Thanksgiving turkey is going to waste When you think about how many turkeys are needlessly killed (12.5 million) /how many people are going hungry ( 12.7% in the united states are food insecure) - that's INSANE.
We have got to do better. So, here are a few tips on reducing your food waste this holiday season.
1. BUY LESS:
I think the best thing to do is buy less food. We tend to over buy. We get trapped in this "OMG I'M GOING TO RUN OUT OF FOOD" mentality and then wind up having enough food to feed an army.
Imagine 1/2 a cup for every side dish, 1 slice of pie, and 1 pound of turkey per person.
Then, don't forget to send guests home with leftovers.
2. STORE IT RIGHT:
Make sure that you have plenty of storage containers for your leftovers. I find that often people don't have big enough storage containers or enough room in the fridge.
Combat this by intentionally making meals out of the odds and ends a week or two before the big meal, and investing in some great storage containers like mixing bowls with lids.
Try to go for clear storage containers like glass so you can see through to figure out how much needs to be eaten before it goes bad.
3. USE IT UP:
This is my favorite part! Get creative when using your leftovers.
