As a child, I remember my parents telling me to finish everything in my plate. In fact, I learned at a very young age to avoid food waste because I had the privilege to have access to food and clean water every day.
But back then, I didn’t really fully understand the extent of it all. All I knew is that food waste was bad and that I should feel guilty about throwing food away.
The Problem With Food Waste
As an adult, I became passionate about nutrition and taking better care of the planet. The more that I read about being more sustainable, the more that I understood how deep the problem with food waste runs.
For starters, about 1/3 of the food produced in the world ends up being tossed out or wasted. How INSANE is that? With so many people going hungry around the world, how is it that so much is ending up in the trash?
That thought alone id enough to light a little fire inside of me. But there’s more…
You might not have thought about food waste from an environment point-of-view, but producing food requires the use of natural resources. Like water, land, energy, and labor. Not only that, but food that ends up in the landfill is actually contributing to greenhouse gas emission. That’s right, food waste is also a big problem for climate change.
The Solution To Food Waste
I know that this is overwhelming and frustrating and terrifying and infuriating at the same time. Because when a problem is so massive, like in the case of global warming and food waste, it is easy to feel like our actions don’t make a difference. But oh my friends, every choice you make, every single day, makes all the difference in the world.
And it all begins at home. In the case of food waste, it starts in your kitchen. So I would like to invite you to embrace something I call Leftover Friday’s. Which is basically making every end of week all about finishing those leftovers so nothing goes to waste.
For this video, I share how to avoid having to throw away leftover cooked food, fresh fruits, and fresh veggies. The answer is A LOT simpler (and more delicious) than you might think.
For more tips and strategies to eat in a way that’s not only amazing for your body, but also the planet, make sure to check out my new program The Green Way. It’s all about healthy eating done in a sustainable way.
