As part of our food journey, we need to know how to fight food waste when gaining healthy weight.
Of course we’re not perfect and most of us have contributed to food waste in some way but there are ways to improve on this.
Food waste happens in our home for several reasons.
Perhaps we may forget about food at the back of the fridge and it goes bad. Or we buy /cook too much food and don’t store it well, resulting in waste. Other times we throw out food that is still perfectly edible.
The result is food waste that ends up in landfill and which is linked to a number of social issues. These include wasting resources, hunger, financial loss and environmental problems due to the build-up of methane gas .
For example in 2019, the Australian government reported that 7.3 million tonnes of food is wasted annually. This is while 1 in 5 people were experiencing food insecurity.
Now remember that was in 2019, so with the havoc that covid has caused in terms of job losses, that figure has risen.
Eating well is not just limited to ourselves. Naturally we want for everyone to have access to good nutritious food, and enough of it.
There are enough resources for everyone on the planet to eat well, however waste and distribution are major issues.
And so let’s find out what simple things we can do at home to stop food waste.
Tips to Fight Food Waste When Gaining Healthy Weight
1. Menu plan and make a shopping list.
Before going shopping, check your fridge, freezer, pantry and fruit bowl to see what food you already have at home.
After that make up a menu plan for the week followed by a shopping list and only get you need.
And don’t forget snacks!
I remember I used to get caught out hungry, as I didn’t think to get snacks like nuts, dried fruit and so on.
At the supermarket only buy what you need and be honest with yourself about whether you’ll really get through that sack of mangoes for $1.99 before they spoil.
If you know you’ll use great healthy weight gain ideas like cut up mango for smoothies and juices, mango pulp for desserts etc. then go for it.
But if you know that you’ll be lucky to use one or two up before they go off, don’t contribute to food waste by getting them.
2. Good storage for healthy weight gain.
Think about your storage. How are you storing food?
Do you sometimes have food sitting in open packaging left to the elements for instance, rice or other grains?
Certainly, good storage like glass jars and containers will keep food fresher for longer, even up to several months and avoid spoilage.
3. Use your freezer.
By freezing foods you can keep them from spoiling for use later on. And freezing food like fruits and vegetables also preserves their nutrients.
After shopping or even after batch cooking, store those extras well in the freezer rather than the fridge where they will go off if you don’t eat them after a few days.
Importantly, move older food in the fridge to the front to be eaten first.
Who hasn’t had that yucky experience of finding some mystery mushy mess at the bottom of their vegetable crisper because it’s been forgotten?
Out of sight often means out of mind. So keep an eye of your perishable foods by keeping the older ones or ones with an upcoming use by date at the front.
4. Use up your leftovers.
Similarly, use up your leftover food by making a stir fry, omelette, fried rice, soup, casserole etc. Those are all great ideas for a healthy weight gain meal and by using up those foods, you avoid wastage.
Also use up that fruit going a little mushy to make great smoothies and lassis.
5. Donate food to fight food waste.
Are you able to donate food to a food charity or people in need? One of the worst things of throwing out food is that there are always people struggling with getting enough to eat.
If you have food to spare that would otherwise go to waste, do look up food banks and charities that are accepting food donations in the local area. There are different types, for example some accept only non-perishable food while others will accept perishable food.
Please only donate food that you would be happy to eat and don’t donate expired food.
Of course if you can’t donate food, perhaps you could volunteer with a food bank instead
6. Compost
Throwing out organic waste like food in landfill creates methane gas, which is a big contributor to global warming. Landfills are one of the biggest sources of methane pollution.
Instead composting your food scraps and garden waste, and adding this to the soil acts a fertiliser. And this improves the quality of soil by increasing organic matter and nutrients.
If you haven’t got a garden, check if your local council has a compost program or offer compost to a neighbour with a garden. We only have this one earth so let’s all play our part.
And that’s it guys. Just a few simple ways to fight food waste when gaining healthy weight. There are always more ideas and you may have some great ones yourselves.
Just start, and stick with it over time.
Till next post!