Every year on September 29, the world observes the International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste Reduction (IDAFLW), which the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) describes as a call to action for people to reduce food loss and waste. Here are 10 quick tips by the FAO for becoming a food hero.
Plan your meals, make that shopping list and more importantly, stick to it to avoid impulse buying. You will not only waste less food but also save money!
Don’t judge food by its appearance! Fruits and vegetables are often thrown away because they don’t meet arbitrary cosmetic standards but they taste the same.
Sometimes food is still safe to eat after the “best before” date, whereas it’s the “use-by” date that tells you when it is no longer safe to eat.
Take smaller portions at home or share large dishes at restaurants.
Don’t throw away those food scraps instead compost them, not only will you be giving nutrients back to the soil but also reducing your carbon footprint.
Buy local products to not only support local farmers, and small businesses but also help fight pollution by reducing delivery distances.
Items like batteries, paints, mobile phones, medicine, chemicals, fertilisers, tires, ink cartridges, etc. can seep into our soils and water supply, damaging the natural resources that produce our food.
We can’t produce food without water. While it is important for farmers to use less water, reducing food waste also saves all the water that goes into producing it.
Even if you don’t eat everything right away, freeze it for later or use the leftovers as an ingredient in another meal.
Donate food that would otherwise be wasted.