Approximately 40 percent of all food in the U.S. is never eaten, contributing to significant waste and environmental concerns. Each year, Minneapolis alone throws away nearly 128,000 tons of food. The City aims to raise awareness and inspire community members to take action by preventing wasted food.
Food for thought:
• The average family of four wastes more than $2,500 a year on food that goes uneaten.
• 70 percent of wasted food at a restaurant is from customers not finishing their plates.
• On average, every person in Hennepin County wastes about 97 meals per year.
• The amount of food we waste is like buying five bags of food at the grocery store and leaving two behind.
• Each year wasted food in the U.S. produces more greenhouse gas emissions than all the cars in California, Texas, Florida and New York combined.
There are many ways individuals and families can limit wasted food: Plan menus for the week; create an “eat this now” section in your refrigerator; store food together that needs to be used up; buy smaller quantities; eat leftovers; store items in the right places in your kitchen so they stay fresher for longer.
Learn the best ways to store food: Save leftovers and store/freeze food in portion-ready containers; freeze ripe fruits and vegetables for baking, cooking and filling in gaps in recipes; and compost food scraps.
Composting is great for the environment as it puts wasted food to use and keeps it out of the landfill. Join the crowd and hear why other Minneapolis residents compost their organics. Sign up for free curbside compost service in the city.
As part of those efforts, the Health Department launched a Prevent Wasted Food webpage and created educational videos for restaurants to waste less food. Minneapolis restaurants create 35,000 tons of food waste each year, which is 30 percent of the city’s food waste. Restaurants can help through simple kitchen changes, donating to food shelves and composting. And 18 percent of Minneapolis residents don’t have access to enough food or affordable food — when businesses donate food, they save money through tax breaks and help the community and the environment.
Prevent food waste – find more info at www2.minneapolismn.gov/government/departments/health/ and also foodwastepreventionweek.com.