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ROLE OF GENERAL PUBLIC IN THE FOOD WASTE PROBLEM
On average, an American family throws out 25% of the food and drinks they buy
For a family of four, the amount of money that is wasted on food that is thrown out ranges from $1350 to $2275
FOOD WASTE RESOURCES FOR YOU!
Check out the ABCs of Reducing Food Waste for tips and suggestions on how you can reduce the amount of food you waste!
THREE WAYS TO HELP WITH THE FOOD WASTE PROBLEM
1. PREVENT FOOD WASTE
2. RECOVER FOOD WASTE
3. RECYCLE FOOD WASTE
PREVENTING FOOD WASTE
Meal Prepping
Meal prepping is a small change in your daily life that can help reduce the amount of food wasted in a large way!
A few ways to meal prep to help reduce food waste:
inventory what you have before going to the store
plan meals for the week
make a grocery list
For more tips to help with meal prepping, visit this website
Storage
Understanding the best practices when it comes to storing food is a key way to reduce food waste and maximize what you can get out of the food you buy!
For best practices and tips on freezing food, visit this website
For information on how long different food can be safety refrigerated or frozen, visit this website for useful chart
Dining Out
When dining out, there are many things you can do to help reduce the amount of food waste created.
A few things you can do while eating out are:
order a la carte
share a meal
bring your leftovers home
ask for smaller portions
The USDA and Cornell University partnered to create this easy to use app that allows you to search different types of food to find information on best practices for storage. To see how the app works, visit the USDA's website
PREVENTING AND RECOVERING FOOD WASTE
Canning, Food Dehydration, and Pickling are three ways you can either prevent and/or recover food waste.
Canning
What is it?
Heating food in a can or jar that kills any bacteria present and allows it to become vacuumed sealed
How long does the food last?
If done right, it can last for years, however, for best taste and quality you should eat the canned food within a year
For more information you can visit this website
Food Dehydration
What is it?
Drying food using techniques such as low heat and steady airflow, which removes moisture from the food and stops growth of bacteria
How long does the food last?
Depending on the type of food, the longevity of the food's life span varies
Fruits- 1 year
Vegetables- 6 months
Meat- 1 to 2 months
Grains, beans, or rice- 1 year
For more information you can visit the following websites:
National Center for Home Food Preservation
Pickling
What is it?
The preserving technique of using a brine or vinegar to perform anaerobic fermentation
How long does the food last?
The longevity of food after being pickled depends on the method used. Home pickled foods can last anywhere from 2 weeks to years
For more information you can visit the following websites:
Where to learn about these preserving techniques
The Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County offers many different programs, webinars, and workshops that can help you learn about a variety of different topics related to food such as gardening and food preservation
To learn more about what they are currently offering, visit their website here
RECOVERING FOOD WASTE
Donating Food to People
Donating edible food to food pantries and other food access programs is a great way to recover food "waste"! If you would like to learn more about best practices when donating food to people, please visit our Donating Food to People page
Donating Food to Feed to Animals
Food that is not edible for humans can still be edible for animals, which is another great way to recover food waste. If you have your own animals, you can feed your food scraps to them (make sure to check what your animals can and cannot have beforehand) and help reduce the amount of food waste that ends up in landfills
This is an example of a homemade compost bin that can be made and used in your own backyard
This is an example of the HomeBioGas anaerobic digester that you can set up at your own home and use to recycle your food waste
RECYCLING FOOD WASTE
The third way to help with the problem of food waste is to recycle your food waste instead of sending it to the landfill. Recycling food waste is different than sending it to the landfill because the methods used allow for value from the food waste to be captured and reused. There are two major ways you can reduce your food waste; composting and anaerobic digestion.
Composting
What is it?
The natural process of microorganisms, in the presence of oxygen, breaking down organic matter
Ways to compost at home
in a bin
in a pile
special bins are available for composting indoors
Benefits
creates a soil amendment that helps enrich soils
decreases the amount of food waste that ends up in landfills
easy to do yourself at your own home!
For more information, visit the following websites
Anoka County Composting Organics
Anaerobic Digestion
What is it?
The natural process of microorganisms, without the presence of oxygen, breaking down organic matter
Ways to anaerobically digest food at home
Benefits
creates biogas that you can use in your house as energy
creates effluent can be used on your gardens
decreases the about of food waste that ends up in landfills
Today’s children are tomorrow’s future: how Clarkson University is working to educate students about food waste and resource recovery
Over the past couple of years, two Clarkson University professors, Dr. Jan DeWaters and Dr. Stefan Grimberg, have been working on a project called “Food-to-Energy” funded by Constellation Energy. This project, in partnership with Canton Central School District and the St. Lawrence Cornell Cooperative Extension, have been working to educate K-12th students and teachers about food waste and resource recovery using educational activities such as field trips, in class activities and teacher workshops. Along with teaching students about food waste and resource recovery, the students at the Canton Central School District have been able to participate in food waste collection in the cafeterias that goes to the anaerobic digester at the CCE Farm in Canton, NY, furthering their learning experience. Over the past couple of years, the project has been able to educate students about a large environmental problem and solutions to it, all with hopes to help promote a more sustainable future for all.
If you would like to learn more about the project, please visit the project website here
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