Many cultures place huge importance on the rituals of food and entertaining, which can lead to over-catering as we display our generosity to guests. Accurate catering for large events and even our households is always difficult, but you can try to hone your estimating skills to limit waste, and if you are using professional caterers talk to them about preventing wastage or reusing leftovers (for example, is there a charitable group they deliver food to after events).
1. Buying in bulk where it makes sense can help reduce carbon footprint, including cutting back on packaging, although this must be balanced against over-buying, food going to waste and refrigeration energy use
o Try to avoid making multiple trips to the shops, especially if you have to drive, by planning your shopping and meals
o If you are close to shops and can walk or cycle there, then buying smaller amounts and enjoying maximum freshness may be the best option
2. Make sure you are aware of use-by-dates for spoilable food and plan when to use those foodstuffs in a timely way
3. Store spoilable food in appropriate containers and cover leftovers you plan to use later, letting them cool to room temperature before going into the fridge. Encourage everyone in your household to eat tasty left overs while they are still fairly fresh.
NOTE: Measuring CO2 savings across all of the food and beverage we have to manage in our lives is complicated. 1 Million Women has assigned a 'campaign carbon value' of 100kg a year for one person for this important and educational activity, based on a conservative interpretation of our research into the carbon savings that consumers can make in this area. If you take responsibility for leading this activity for more people in your household, we add on 50kg a year for each extra person.
Why is it important?
Up to 30% of food we buy is wasted, at an estimated national cost of $5 billion-plus a year according to the Canberra-based Australia Institute. Much of it goes out of date before it can be consumed, which means all of the CO2 pollution embedded in producing it has been in vain.
As the Australian Government reports, food production generates greenhouse gases from a variety of sources:
fossil fuel energy used to mine, produce and transport packaging materials
methane released by animals and the farming of land
the breakdown of food and garden waste.
Whichever way you look at it, avoiding wasting food is good for the environment and good for the household budget bottom line as well.