Okay, so while it may not be strictly beauty-related, food waste is a serious issue. And it’s something all of us are guilty of being a part of.
Later this month, the Sustainable Foods Summit will take place in San Francisco. In a paper at the summit, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations will show how a third of the food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted in the supply chain. This is mainly due to inadequate storage and distribution in developing countries, and waste at retail and consumer level in more affluent countries. That’s where you come in.
According to Love Food, Hate Waste ambassador and media personality Sarah Wilson, in Australia we buy $7.8 billion per year of food we don’t use. In fact, each household throws more than $1000 worth of food into the bin each year. In a time where food waste has been proven to contribute to the inflated cost of food, strain on resources and climate change, these statistics are both alarming and inexcusable.
With January seeing all of us make resolutions (some more achievable than others), I am going to endeavour to waste less food. This not only means planning my meals as best I can, storing foods properly and eating leftovers the next day whenever my boyfriend doesn’t scoop them up, but also aiming to eat the whole of the food wherever possible. That means broccoli stalks, beetroot leaves and bread crusts when I can - even though I might not always want to do it.
You can read more about the Sustainable Foods Summit and food waste here. And you can discover more ways to use your food scraps and store food correctly at sarahwilson.com.au or lovefoodhatewaste.nsw.gov.au.
Do you have any tips to minimise food waste?