What percent of your food do you waste?

[Liberal_in_LA]

For those of us who have enough to eat and then some, we can help by sharing what we have with others. Americans waste nearly 40 percent of their food. So for a week, try taking 40 percent of your grocery budget and setting it aside to donate to your local food pantry or soup kitchen.
http://cchronicle.com/2010/10/the-urban-hunger-problem-causes-and-solutions/

http://food.change.org/blog/view/food_waste_and_what_we_can_do_about_it

[brewens]

1. And have the gut to prove it! n/t

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. lol n/t

[Xicano]

49. .

.

[eridani]

3. You need a 1% in there

I can't say that I am 100% clean on this issue, but I waste very little.

[Skittles]

17. I agree

except for the occasional piece of fruit that gets too sloppy before I can eat it, I really waste no food

[Xicano]

50. I agree also.

I voted none because my food waste only adds up to around 1 to 3%.

[hobbit709]

4. If I don't eat it all, the dogs will.

[Turborama]

34. Same here. Well, the dog and the cat will...

[Liberal_in_LA]

40. so cute!

[Up Quark]

5. I have no figure in mind, but it seems pretty clear that an "intelligently designed"

human or other living organism ought to be able to use about 100% of its food intake to sustain viability.

Yeah, I know it's a little different from what your question addresses, but solving my dilemma would take care of yours too, mostly, wouldn't it?

:shrug:

[HughMoran]

6. almost none

I hate wasting food.

[TheKentuckian]

7. Very little but occasionally some milk spoils or bread goes bad before I get through it

I'm trying to beat the celery to rot as we speak but I might lose a stalk.

[cynatnite]

8. We're getting a compost bin. n/t

[Kurovski]

9. Far less than 10 percent. Maybe 2

almost anything can go into a soup. we just gave bags of food from the pantry to a neighbor's family whose dad had lost his job.I buy cheap and in good amounts. long-lasting staples.

...Do you really need those old boots?

[uppityperson]

10. Between us, chickens, dog, cat, compost, garden, waste minimal

"First, wasted calories means the resources that went into producing, shipping, and storing that food are also wasted, including water and fossil fuels."

Eat as local as possible. Buy as least prepared as possible. It is not possible to grow all you food, at least not for most of us, but eat what is in season and as local as possible.

[Quantess]

41. Me too!

[EmeraldCityGrl]

11. I now have five chickens. What they don't eat

goes into a compost bin that is then used in our raised bed vegetable gardens.
It's a complete cycle. The only exception is meat that is fed to the dog as a treat.
If there is an abundance of any crop, it's brought to the local food bank.

Many urban areas are now allowing chickens and even goats as Seattle does so,
this is possible anywhere.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

12. Other: I don't weigh my garbage. -nt

[applegrove]

13. I feed my parents every night. My mom eats like a bird and I often have to throw out half

of what she was served. Then sometimes she'll eat it all. It can't be avoided.

[Luminous Animal]

27. Why don't you feed her half and then give her seconds if she can eat more.

[Johonny]

14. IDK

I honestly don't know.

[Ruby the Liberal]

15. I have GERD and it shows up uninvited.

Many times, I can only take a few bites before the acid-reflux/nausea kicks off and I have to stop eating.

Ashamed to say, I voted 30-50% as an average.

Will donate for what I am wasting. Thanks for the heads up.

[petronius]

16. I suspect the biggest component of waste for me is the food I eat but don't need

After that, I have a bad habit of over-shopping in the veggie aisle - I really need to start going in with a more specific grocery list...

[rucky]

I was raised by a Jewish mother.

any questions?

[rucky]

18. dupe

any questions?

[alittlelark]

19. Between the compost pile and the dog there is nothing wasted.

[bemildred]

20. Hmm, it all turns into waste eventually.

Are you really asking about food I pay for that never gets eaten? Well, I don't eat fast food much, so there isn't much "waste" either, and what there is goes into the compost pile.

[Mojorabbit]

21. I have dogs and chickens

and a small worm farm plus a compost pile. Not much goes to waste here.

[unkachuck]

22. I waste no food....

....I can't afford to waste anything....

....I prepare only enough food for each meal and have no left-overs....if friends come over I'll prepare something quick on the spot....

....preparing only what you need for yourself is easy when you old and set in your ways....if you have a large family or have young children, satisfying everyones' expectations becomes more difficult and may lead to waste....

....giving to food pantries helps millions of people survive....be generous, as often as you can....

[corkhead]

23. I 'm somewhere between 0 and 10%. I took credit for being at zero

:evilgrin:

[roody]

24. My rotten vegetables make great organic compost.

[K8-EEE]

25. I hate throwing stuff out but I do almost every week.

There's always some leftover we didn't get around to eating or wilted lettuce or something.

I'm a fanatic about a clean fridge so I really go through it every Monday and I've gotten pretty realistic. If there's half a casserole there and I know we aren't going to be home for a couple of days, I'd rather toss it than shove it in the back and revisit it in a month with mold on it!

Still, I do try to shop often and only buy the fresh stuff I need for a couple of days so I'll still put my family's waste at 10%. On the rare occasions when I go out to a restaurant sometimes it's 50% because the portions are huge and if I'm going out after dinner, I don't want it sitting in my car.

Having an herb garden did help with wasting that stuff at least. No more slimy cilantro or wilted chives, I just snip what I need!

[Luminous Animal]

26. Less than 1%. My daughter and her friends ordinarily eat up every last crumb....

On the odd chance that they leave something behind, it goes into the stock pot. Chicken and fish bones, and shellfish shells and vegetable scraps are re-purposed as stock and once the last bit of flavor is cooked out, into the municipal recycling bin.

[the redcoat]

28. I call bullshit on anyone saying they waste zero food

Obviously it's ideal, but no one has magical foresight where they'll know exactly how much they'll need. Sometimes food spoils, sometimes you leave some meat on the bone, sometimes you have no room in your fridge for that extra pizza from a party. I know I myself have a box or 2 of stale cereal still in my cupboard that I should probably throw out. It happens, and as long as you put in a conscious effort to buy and consume intelligently, it's forgivable.

I'm sure it's possible, but it's definitely nowhere near the 30% indicated in this poll.


I don't see any shame in "wasting" 5-10%, especially when compared to the American average, especially if you make the commitment to shop smart and donate when you can.

[Luminous Animal]

29. If I were as poor now as I was growing up, my answer would be zero.

There was nothing wasted in my house. Not one scrap of food went to compost until every bit of flavor was cooked out of it.

A Sunday ham meant Monday's ham cabbage and boiled white potatoes meant Tuesday ham sandwiches and leftover cabbage meant Wednesday bean soup with added leftover riced potatoes meant Thursday "bullet beans" (ham bone, leftover soup, and Michigan navy beans cooked for hours to extract every last bit of flavor from the ham until the beans were terrifically crunchy) meant Friday "bullet bean" sandwiches and a bone for the dog. Saturday was breakfast for dinner and we roll back to Sunday which now would be a beef roast, then on Monday pretty much the same dinner but with more bread and gravy; Tuesday, beef sandwiches, Wednesday, hash and eggs; Thursday, beef stew; Friday, stew again ladled on bread and back to breakfast Saturday. Next up...ham!!!!

[walldude]

42. That's because you can afford it...

We waste about 20% in my house now. But when I was younger and poor as hell and all I ate was baloney and Ramin Noodles not one bit went to waste...

[the redcoat]

45. Like I said.."I'm sure it's possible"

I don't mean to come across as saying it's absolutely impossible, I just wanted to point out that I don't believe people are accurately representing themselves in the poll by having >30% say they waste absolutely zero food.

[walldude]

47. Yeah I agree with that. It was difficult to admit I waste 20%

No one wants to look like they are wasting food, but if you can afford it it's hard to help it.

[FedUpWithIt All]

30. Like many here, we keep chickens, have a dog, compost for the garden.

We have increasingly negligible food waste.

I do agree that contributing to food banks and the like is very important.

[csziggy]

31. We have a little bin under the sink for organics

Most of what goes in there are coffee grinds, banana peels, and the trimmings off vegetables. Though if I can, I make stock from the vegetable trimmings. A few bones also go in there, but since we have cut way back on our meat consumption, there are not many of those.

We had stew for the first time in a long time last week - I took all the bones and trimmings from the chuck roast, put them in a pot with the carrot, celery and onion peelings and ends and made a vegetable beef stock that is now in the freezer. So the stuff that was left after that was pretty much not edible and could not be considered wasted food.

Between the freezer and careful planning, we almost never have food just go bad. Whatever gets thrown out, the local wildlife eats - we carry the little bin out and dump it in the field away from the house. There is no point in having a compost pile - the wildlife would eat the stuff faster than it would accumulate.

[Warren DeMontague]

33. You can get bins with lids, or tumblers that they can't get into.

Really, if you do any gardening at all, the stuff is great for it.

[csziggy]

35. We have a horse farm - if we need compost, we have plenty of great sh*t

So the tiny bit of organics we generate in the house waste bin is simply not worth it.

[Warren DeMontague]

36. Gotcha. I bet.

The mind boggles, actually!

[Warren DeMontague]

32. We do a pretty good job, most of the rest ends up in the compost bins.

We generate very, very little food waste.

[AsahinaKimi]

37. I remember hearing a tale

From Japan, (and I think my father told me this), that during the early Edo Days, all Samurai were paid with Rice. Some got more rice then others depending on their rank.

There was once a Samurai who was rather arrogant and while receiving his rice, had dropped a few grains onto the tatami mat. It was his responsibility to pick up the pieces, but he simply waved his hand in a dismissive way, and started to walk away.

The Shogun saw this and called his name, saying;

"Warrior, do you intend to leave my generous payment on my floor? You Insult me! You insult your rank and stature! You insult all of Japan! You have a choice, sir. To apologize or to have your entire bag of rice taken back for one month."

Now as most knew, Rice was the staple, so to lose a months worth of rice would mean starvation.

This humbled the Samurai a bit.. and he threw himself on his knees and begged forgiveness, asking to pick up the little grains of rice that were left on the tatami mat.

The Shogun took back his bag of rice, and told the Samurai to lick up the remaining grains. The Samurai quickly did so and was given just half a bag of rice.

"Perhaps next time you will appreciate the payment we give you, when your stomach yearns to eat"

From that lesson everyone learned to cherish each grain of rice, for it could be your last.

[Liberal_in_LA]

39. Interesting story.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

38. I eat leftovers until they're gone and don't believe in expirations dates.

Plus I buy food to cook the same evening so very little of my food ever expires.
The only food that gets "wasted" are chopped ends/stems/skins that make it into the trash during food preparation.

I'd say all in all, I waste far less than anyone I know... probably around 3%-4%

[SeattleGirl]

43. None, really

What might go bad, and the parts of certain foods that aren't edible are composted.

[uncommon]

44. I'm sure it's at least 20%. It would be more if the bf didn't like leftovers so much.

:(

[prolesunited]

46. Very, very little

I eat expired food in the pantry all of the time. Unopened cereal doesn't even taste stale and noodles are going to go bad? I have a standalone freezer, so I freeze leftovers and produce before it goes bad. If I miss anything and for trimmings, I have a compost bin and a worm bin, so that is recycled back into the garden. And I don't eat meat, so there's no bones or scraps or things I can't compost. I can't even fill a kitchen garbage bag in a week.

[joeybee12]

48. None...raised by parents who lived through the Depression...I can't

stand to see people not eat everything or throw something out. Old bread and fruits go to the birds.