Food waste refers to the disposal of edible food that remains suitable for human consumption, occurring throughout the food supply chain and driven by factors like overproduction, spoilage, and aesthetic standards. Addressing food waste is essential for sustainability and reducing the environmental impact of food production and disposal.
Food Waste Environmental Impacts
What can I do to reduce food waste?
1. Reduce Food Waste by:
- Never shopping for groceries while hungry
- Learning to love/prepare “ugly” produce or other “imperfect” foods
- Gleaning and foraging foods that would otherwise go to waste
- Arrange your food storage so that older items are placed in the front and newer items in the back. This is called the FIFO rule or “First in, First out”. This way, you'll use up items before they expire
- Learning to preserve surplus produce through canning, drying, pickling
2. Food recovery – i.e. sharing/donating/saving leftovers and surplus food.
3. If food cannot be recovered for human consumption, feed it to domestic and farm animals.
4. Feed the worms! Compost any food waste that cannot consumed.
This research was conducted by the University of Louisville's Center for Integrative Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS grant P30 ES030283). CIEHS strives to inform the public on environmental health science and build transparent relationships with surrounding communities to support healthier lifestyles. For more information regarding The Center for Integrative Environmental Health Science, please visit https://centers.louisville.edu/integrativeenvironmentalhealth/. Please email CIEHS@louisville.edu for a print copy of this fact sheet.