We consumers all throw away a large amount of food every week, which is not only morally wrong, but also affects our financial position. And then we’re not even talking about the environment. If we make our common sense work better, we can achieve gains on several fronts. You can prevent a lot of waste by never going to the supermarket on an empty stomach, so that we cannot be tempted. Because when we are hungry, our eyes are of course bigger than the stomach.
Wallet
Of course, not everything was better in the 1950s, but in an average family exceptionally little food was thrown away, because every dime had to be turned over to arrive at the net weekly wage of 50 guilders. But today we all buy and prepare shockingly more food than we eat. Figures that Milieu Centraal recently published show that in 2013, around 20% of food products were thrown on the rubbish heap. However, three quarters of it is still perfectly usable. That is also pure waste from a financial point of view. According to Nibud, an average family of two adults and two children spends approximately €15 per day on food. If we can save around 2.50 on this, we are talking about almost 1000 euros per year per family that could be better spent. In the Netherlands, a total of around 2.6 billion euros of good food goes to waste processing. What exactly is the reason for this and how can it be improved? The main causes of food waste are preparing too large quantities, expired expiration dates and stocking up on too much food.
Keep less in stock
An average family generally has everything in the pantry and refrigerator. The fuller those storage areas are, the less overview and control you have over what you have in house. In an overcrowded refrigerator, it’s easy to overlook products that are perishable and languishing in a jar or package at the back somewhere. In a pantry with all kinds of packages of baking flour, pancake flour, pre-packed cookies, nuts, toast and rusks, you have no idea what’s in there, let alone how long they have been aging there. But we have long lived in a time when supermarkets are open until 8 p.m. and often on Sundays too. Then what on earth is the reason that we still want to keep all kinds of products in stock? And for unexpected diners, the portions at the Chinese takeaway are so large that two people can easily be satisfied. So there is no reason to keep stocks, apart from a can of tuna salad in case you feel like something savory late at night.
Buy less every day
It is a well-known story that you should never go shopping when your stomach is empty, because you will then buy all kinds of unnecessary food that you do not need and that you probably already have in the refrigerator anyway. But in any case, in the store we are often guided more by our feelings than by our reason. A good solution to protect ourselves is of course to make a shopping list in advance of the products we really need and to stick to it with discipline.
Prepare less at a time
If you have a family, it is apparently a very difficult task to cook realistic quantities, because we have sometimes caught ourselves preparing slightly too little. The opposite is more likely, namely that we prepare excessively large portions of vegetables, pasta and potatoes every day. As if it is so bad that we once underestimated something a little. Of course we understand the concern if you have dinner visitors, but for most of the week you don’t have one. It wouldn’t be so bad if we were to eat the leftovers the next day, but in that respect it often only remains a good intention. The leftovers often end up in the refrigerator for 24 hours, after which they are thrown away.
Expiration date
When we look at old cookbooks, we find various recipes in them, which are intended to prevent us from having to throw away food with an expired expiration date. French toast, bread porridge, bread dish were dishes that were exclusively intended to get old, dried out bread into the stomach. Back then we weren’t overly sensitive to the terror of the expiration date. We couldn’t afford the luxury. Today, every product has an expiration date that often has more influence on us than our common sense. Because once that date has passed, there is often nothing wrong. Dairy manufacturer Friesland-Campina writes in January 2013 in the NH-Dagblad that milk and certainly yoghurt can be consumed a few days after the expiry date. Of course, it is different on hot days than on cool days, but the expiration date for dairy products is nothing more than an advice. So smell and taste yourself and follow your feelings. According to Milieu Centraal, you have to be very alert with meat and fish, but on the other hand, you can still use rice, preserved vegetables, pasta and soft drinks years later.
We legally have two types of expiry dates, namely: Use by (TGT) and Best before (THT).
- The best before date is on less perishable food, which usually does not need to be refrigerated, but also on cheese, meat, eggs and milk. With this expiration date (best before) we must use our own feelings and reason. For example, beer in a bottle can easily be used months later, as long as the beer still flows nice and clear into the glass.
- The second expiration date, the best before date, is stated on highly perishable products and, according to the Milieu Centraal agency, you as a consumer must observe that date. This concerns fish, meat, fresh fruit juices and pre-cut vegetables.
Packing material
Additional problem: By needlessly throwing away food, we automatically also needlessly throw away a lot of plastic, since our food today is packaged in an insane amount of plastic, etc. No sane person understands why you have to package an ounce of cheese in a plastic box that is so strong you almost have to use a hammer. Now that cheese will not spoil so quickly, but other products at the supermarket are often provided too generously with packaging material that is difficult to break down.