Throwing away food – what a waste!

I thought this infographic illustrates the problem of food waste brilliantly. Yes we have a problem, but what's the solution?

Is it simply a matter of being less picky about produce? Choosing apples that have a few spots on them but still taste good? Or do we need to rethink the whole industrialised food process and start growing our own?

Your thoughts?

 

17/04/2013  3:07 pm  by george

I think we can all make a difference here. Planning our meals wisely and buying only what we need is an easy start. If we get to the end of the week and food in our own fridge and pantry are starting to wilt, take an hour and turn it into something – a frittata, a pasta sauce, a quiche – and then freeze it. Saves waste, saves money and is wonderfully convenient for those nights you just have no time or can't be bothered.

If buying take out or eating out at restaurants and cafés, let our stomachs guide our purchases, not our eyes – so we don't over order, leaving waste behind that just gets thrown out.

 

17/04/2013  3:42 pm  by Greg Roughan – Green Ideas editor

Good simple advice – if only the big food producers thought the same way!

 

17/04/2013  8:25 pm by kiwijohn

Of course decisions we make as individuals make some difference but solutions are most often dependent on policies imposed from central or local government. I grew much of our family food 50 years ago, found a shoal of excuses to go with the MARKET and have just now returned to GYO for survival and pleasure in a changing world. I am lucky to have the space and available time. This has to be an important part of the Auckland District Plan, expand upward or outward. Upward closes doors on any measure of self-sustenance. Outward encourages growing food, recycling, surpluses, collecting rain. And this does not need the traditional and long-gone quarter acre. We know now of much more compact and efficient food-gardens. So we move out into the 10-acre blocks and hobby farms. We become a much more productive and healthier society if governments allow.

 

18/04/2013  9:26 am by Greg Roughan - Green Ideas editor

The trend towards vertical gardening / rooftop gardening is definitely interesting, huh – but hard to see how it can replace gardening in your own back (or front) yard.