It’s that time of year again, as we gather around our holiday tables to share a meal with friends and family, or attend neighborhood get-togethers with yummy spreads. What could be better? Well, actually….
Americans have a bit of a problem with food waste. This Thanksgiving, it’s estimated that we wasted nearly 312 million pounds of food, equivalent to over 10 pounds of food for a ten-person dinner. Yikes!
What’s the environmental impact of all that food waste? Let’s take a look:
????Roughly 103.6 billion gallons worth of water was wasted in the growing of that food, equal to about 156,980 Olympic-sized swimming pools. With our looming water crisis, that’s a concern.
????An estimated 710,000 metric tons of CO2e emissions was released into the atmosphere in the production and transportation of this food. This is equivalent to driving your car 73,109 times around the Earth’s equator.
????Decaying food waste causes 58% of methane emissions from landfills. Methane has 80 times the warming power of CO2 over the first 20 years after it reaches the atmosphere, setting the pace for our increasing temperatures.
So what can we do about it at home? We’ve got ideas thanks to Refed, a national nonprofit dedicated to ending food loss and waste!!
????Plan ahead. Calculate how much you will need to serve and purchase accordingly. You can use this food “Guest-imator” to approximate how much to serve based on number of guests and appetites.
????Develop a leftovers strategy. Check with your guests to see if they want leftovers and cook to that amount. Ask folks to bring reusable containers with them to take extras home.
????Get ready to freeze. Leftovers can be packaged and frozen. Now you’ve got dinner for months!
Our virtual meetings are now recorded! If you’ve missed a live meeting, or want to experience one again, check our YouTube page. The most recent video is also below.
