Best Practices to Stop Wasting Food
Every harvest, every meal, even every ingredient is a gift. But too often, food gets wasted, and that’s a problem not only for your wallet, but for the planet. The good news is that food waste isn’t inevitable. This post builds on what we covered in 7 Easy Tips to Eliminate Food Waste at Home and will walk you through the best practices to stop wasting food, so you can make the most of what Mother Earth provides.
During the Thanksgiving Season, these best practices are especially important!
Why Reducing Food Waste Matters
First, let’s remind ourselves why this isn’t just about being frugal. As the EPA points out, about one-third of all food in the U.S. goes uneaten, and almost all household food waste ends up in landfills, where it decomposes and produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas. On top of that, we waste around 40% to 60% of all the food we produce (around 92 billion pounds). That’s a huge drain on resources. By reducing food waste in your home, you’re closing the loop.
Best Practices to Stop Wasting Food — Your Action Plan
Here are some of our top strategies to help you minimize food waste without turning your kitchen upside down.
1. Plan Ahead (And Shop Smart)
One of the simplest steps you can take is to plan meals before you shop. Think about what you’ll cook this week, what you already have in your pantry, and how many meals you really need. It sounds obvious, but making a shopping list based on planned meals cuts down on impulse buys that end up at the back of your fridge.
Bonus tip: Try planning around what’s fresh and in season. That way, you’re not only reducing waste, you’re enjoying your food at its peak. Not sure what’s in season or when? A lot of people aren’t. This guide will help you.
2. Be Realistic About Quantities
It’s easy to be overly optimistic when you see a sale or a big bag of something. But it’s not a bargain if a lot of what you buy spoils before you can eat it.
Ask yourself: Will I actually eat all of this before it goes bad? Use your weekly plan and portion expectations to guide how much you buy. And when you do grab a deal, make sure you have a plan for how to use it, whether that means cooking, freezing, canning, or sharing.
3. Prioritize What Spoils First
There’s nothing worse than finding that your delicious asparagus has gotten all wilty, or your mushrooms are molding. Put the perishables (leafy greens, fresh meat, soft fruits, etc.) front and center in your fridge. Use a “First In, First Out” system so that older items get used before newer ones.
You might also create an “Eat Me First” shelf or box in your fridge to highlight what needs to go soon.
4. Store Food Properly
Good storage helps keep your food fresher for longer. But what does that look like? Here’s what you need to know:
- Keep your fridge at 40°F or lower.
- Store greens and veggies that wilt in high-humidity drawers, and place more rotting-sensitive items (like mushrooms or berries) in the low-humidity drawer.
- Keep fruits that emit ethylene gas (like apples, bananas, and tomatoes) separate from produce that’s more sensitive, since ethylene accelerates ripening.
- Don’t wash berries until you’re ready to eat them because moisture speeds up spoilage.
5. Don’t Fear Expiration Labels
One of the biggest culprits of waste is confusion over labels like “sell-by,” “best-by,” or “use-by.” A lot of people assume that food that’s past the date isn’t safe to eat, but these aren’t always food-safety indicators. It’s usually more about peak freshness.
If in doubt: trust your senses. Smell, look, and sometimes taste. If something seems off, compost it. But if it seems fine, go ahead and use it.
6. Use and Reuse Leftovers Creatively
Leftovers are your secret weapon. Turn leftover grains into fried rice, extra roasted veggies into omelets or frittatas, yesterday’s chicken into a hearty soup or salad. Put those extras to better use.
7. Preserve What You Can’t Eat Right Away
If your weekly haul is generous, you don’t have to let it go to waste. Freezer, canning, fermenting, pickling: these are all ways to preserve what you might not be able to eat before it spoils.
Note: the freezer is your best friend. Store leftovers in airtight containers, label them (including the date), and remove as much air as possible before freezing so things last longer.
8. Share and Donate
If you’re lucky enough to have more than you’ll eat, consider giving away the extras. Share with friends, neighbors, or community food banks. Chances are good that you do this already with your garden surplus (those unexpected squash porch drops are a thing), but you can do it with anything that you might have more of than what you need. Sharing extra food helps reduce waste and supports people right in your own community.
9. Compost What Can’t Be Eaten
Not every peel, scrap, or spoiled item can be saved for cooking. But even food that’s past its prime has value. Composting gives that food a second life as rich soil.
If you can’t compost at home, look into local drop-off composting centers. The EPA also encourages diverting inedible scraps away from landfills to reduce methane emissions.
10. Educate and Build Habits
Changing how you handle food takes time and repetition. Use tools like EPA’s “Food: Too Good to Waste” toolkit to help you track waste and improve your habits. Once people start tracking what they toss, they realize just how much is avoidable, and then they can do better.
Your Commitment Matters
You don’t have to fix the world overnight, but every little change in your home counts. By planning better, storing more wisely, using leftovers, preserving produce, sharing, and composting, you’re saving food, but it goes further than that. You’re saving resources, cutting emissions, and supporting a more sustainable food system.
