How the world manages to waste half its food

[pokerfan]

Between 30 and 50 percent of all the food that’s produced on the planet is lost and wasted without ever reaching human stomachs. That’s the stunning takeaway from a new report (pdf) from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

We’ve covered food waste before on this blog, but those figures seemed staggering to the point of absurdity. So I thought I’d comb through the report and pull out some of the concrete details that help illustrate just how the world can actually waste this much food.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/01/12/how-the-world-manages-to-waste-half-its-food

Obviously, most the waste occurs before it even hits your shopping cart but still, I do my best. Maybe because my parents lived through the great depression, they hammered the concept into me.

All my food goes into a rotation. For example, I usually have about five to ten pounds of brown rice on hand at all times and yes, brown rice will eventually go bad so I keep the containers in rotation. Oldest gets used up first. Same thing goes for the fridge. It's probably more rice than I need to store between grocery visits but it's also part of my emergency stock. (Oh yeah, I was also a boy scout so preparedness, etc.)

I freeze my bread and transfer as needed to the fridge. Since it's all destined for the toaster anyway, it doesn't matter.

When I peel my Brussels sprouts, I wash the loose leaves and add them to my salad. When I cut up broccoli, I don't just eat the florets. I dice up the stems and add them to my rice or use them in a soup. Same goes for celery leaves.

When I buy fresh meat, I re-portion everything into single meal (or two) portions and store them in the freezer. All leftovers get used one way or another. If it's edible, I find a way to use it.

If you have tips of your own, post them!

[eilen]

1. Soup.

Pot liquor from pot roast, cooking water from beans, etc-- I reuse. I make soups with dried beans, veggies (leftover veggies go in too) any bones or carcass from chickens, duck etc. I use leftover rice as crusts for quiche/frittata pie.

[pokerfan]

2. Yep, soup is the great catch-all

I find it funny how the stalks of broccoli are considered waste and the flowering part edible where with celery it's the other way around.

[Why Syzygy]

3. k&r

Kicking because this needs to be known by those who claim our beautiful planet is incapable of supporting the life forms living here.