A topic that Sarah Wilson has been behind
for a little while, and one our grandparents stuck by to a tee. So why has it become
something so far from our everyday that our annual household food
wastage in Australia is now a $5.2 billion problem?
Considering rising food prices, it’s startling that an estimated
4.45 million tones of household food in
Australia ends up in landfill
with each household throwing out
approximately 936kg a year (this doesn’t account for food wastes from
industrial and commercial sources). This 5.2 billion dollars in waste is
equivalent to installing solar hot water systems in 960,000 Aussie homes
according to UTS’s Institute for Sustainable Futures, and costs us more as a
nation than running the Australian Army, says the Australian Institute’s 2009
report What a Waste.
John Dee, founder of Australian social and
environmental organization Do Something!, says the impact of food waste is far
more than just financial. “The vast majority of Australians are unaware that
when discarded food rots in landfill, it gives off methane, a greenhouse gas
that’s 25 times more potent than the carbon pollution that comes out of your
car exhaust”, he says. Holy hell!
I recently read about one organization
dedicated to “rescuing food and fighting hunger” and that’s Victorian-based
charity FareShare. They accept donations of unwanted food from businesses,
transforming it into healthy meals for the homeless which I think is amazing.
In 2009 they recovered and distributed 400 tonnes of food which they estimate
prevented 620 tonnes of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere, as well as
calculated that for every kg of food recovered, they also saved 56 litres of
water.
So what we can we do to rectify some of
this burden we have collectively put ourselves under? Well it all begins at
home. In my favourite place – the kitchen;
+ Look at what’s in your fridge
+ How do you store your food?
+ Why do you buy certain products? Were they
on sale and you couldn’t resist? Was it on a whim? Or was it planned? Most of
us buying sale items are lured in by the (cheap) cost rather than stopping to
think how (and if) we’ll actually use it.
Ways to reduce your food waste at home
might include:
+ Rotating the food in your fridge and your
pantry to put the older items at the front to be used first.
+ Store your food well; airtight containers,
sealed bags, refrigerated if necessary.
+ Shop with a list you have compiled based on
what you already have at home; this reduces impulse buying but also makes sure
you don’t double up on something you already have sitting at home waiting to be
used.
+ Make leftovers; these are my favourite
meals usually! Make a big pot of veggie soup, a casserole, or a stir fry at the
end of the week to use up everything left in your fridge. Have some for dinner,
and some for lunch the following day, and freeze anything else left for those
nights you just can’t be stuffed!
+ Compost! The food we simply throw in the
garbage ends up in landfill contributing to greenhouse gases from the methane
produced when broken down anaerobically (without oxygen). However when we
compost our food scraps, they decompose aerobically (with oxygen), generating
few emissions and double as a super duper usable product for your garden, not
to mention much safer than commercial fertilizers, for your garden, your family
and the animals. Think about it; you’re adding to the soil, not taking away
from it.
+ Additionally, throw your fruit and veggie
scraps in a blender, whiz up, and pour straight on your garden.
+ If you make juices at home, save the pulp
left over for making crackers, adding to bone broth for extra flavour and
minerals, or for use in veggie or mince patties.
The food chain is just that – a chain. And
unless we work in the industry’s that directly in contact with our food along
any of the multiple processes from farmer to plate, all we can do is start at
our fridges. And go from there.
This week’s challenge: Have a look in your
fridge and pantry; pull the older items to the front and use these first. Start
writing a shopping list to go by when you go grocery shopping. Find recipes to
use what you’ve got sitting at home if you’re unsure what to do with them. And
start composting! If it’s in an old ice cream tub or a bucket from the back of
the garage – it’s perfect. Starting somewhere is better than not starting at
all.
Christie xx
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