If you think you can’t fight food waste, think again.
So much of what we hear and read about food waste is on a grand scale: thousands of pounds of produce from supermarkets, acres of unharvested farm crops, institutional waste from large companies, schools and hospitals. While these examples are real, and on a global scale, the biggest change can happen at home.
The average American household wastes $2,200 in food each year, or over 20 pounds of food per person per month. (Sources: NRDC/UNEP) We make small choices every day: the way we shop, the way we consume (and what we don’t consume), and all of these choices have big effects. By being mindful about shopping, using everything we buy, and planning out meals, we could actually change these numbers.
In that vein, Lovin’ Spoonfuls is launching #HowiRescue, to get people thinking about individual food waste and to share tips and ways to reduce it at home.
At Lovin' Spoonfuls, we're on the road every day rescuing and distributing nearly 50,000 pounds of fresh, healthy and perishable food each week. With over 70 vendors and almost 130 beneficiary agencies, we've kept over 4.5 million pounds of food out of landfills, and on the plates of people who need it most (about 20,000 people a week, in fact).
But Lovin’ Spoonfuls can’t do it all.
A lot of people are taking mindful steps each day (portion control, freezing and using leftovers, cooking in creative ways that use the whole ingredient, etc.!), and those ideas need to make it to the masses! In some cases, people just aren't aware of measures they can take. By pooling together ideas with this campaign, we hope to bring awareness to individual food waste and inspire others to take action at home.
I was lucky enough to sneak a week away last month, and savor the last few moments of summer. August and September make for the best tomatoes, and Nantucket is known for theirs. I like to wait until the end of the day, head out to Bartlett's Farm, after the restaurants and residents have done their shopping, and grab all the bruised and 'left behind' tomatoes. Sliced up, they're as beautiful as the first ones out.
So, we want to know — how do you rescue? Join the campaign and share with your social community, using the hashtag, #HowiRescue (Instagram, Twitter and Facebook). You'll join our staff, partners, board members and friends and ambassadors in the chef and restaurants community in sharing all the creative ways to get the most out what you've got on hand. No waste.
More importantly, you'll be inspiring change. And that makes a real difference.
This post is part of our “Reclaim” initiative, which showcases solutions to the issue of food waste and engages our readers to take action. You can find all the posts in this initiative, as well as feature pieces, investigative stories and video, here. Follow the initiative on Twitter at #Reclaim.