What does Thanksgiving bring to mind in your home? It might be gratitude for the harvest, the coming together of family and friends, and of course, the traditional foods that appear on your table. But as you’re planning for your festivities do you think about Food Waste? Probably not, but here is why you should.

Over 300 million pounds of food will be wasted in the US this Thanksgiving – enough food to provide about five meals for each of the over 10 million households experiencing food insecurity. And, when food goes to waste, all the resources that were used to produce the discarded food are wasted, including energy, labor, water, and land. Think of wasted food as putting “Cash in the Trash”. And finally, it is estimated that the greenhouse gases associated with the US food system account for over 30 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions.

So before preparing your feast this year, think about how you can waste less food.  Some food waste reduction tips include:

–       Planning ahead and purchasing just the amount of food you’ll need.
It’s OK to have too much if you’ll be using the leftovers, but even those should be part of your calculation.
–       Visit https://savethefood.com/ for helpful information on how to reduce food waste, and on the same website find the “Guest-imator,” a calculator that estimates how much food you will need to feed your guests. Just tell it who is coming to dinner, and it will tell you just how much food to prepare.
–       Use smaller plates, utensils, serving platters, etc. ─ so people don’t feel compelled to overfill their plate.
–       Share your leftovers, by providing a fun “take home” package for guests in reusable containers.
–       Compost if you can. (Check your city’s rules for what goes in the green bin!)
–       And of course, donate any leftover nonperishable items to local food shares and community kitchens.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and thank you for doing your part to reduce food waste.