What percentage of food do you waste?

freshpopcorn

I recently heard something on TV and it said that we waste about 30% off food per year.
I was think about this and I doubt our house does this. All meat/fish/vegetables/etc are eaten. Fat/scraps/ go to the pets and peels/skins go to compost/recycling.
Bread/cakes/Biscuits/etc are generally eaten.
Frozen food/dry goods/etc are generally eaten.

We sometimes throw out bread crusts but the birds get these. Apart from that all that would be thrown out would be something we didn't like and Jams/mustard/etc that doesn't get used.

I'd say we'd throw out well below 5% off food a year.

What percentage of food do you waste?

Squall Leonhart

There's 2 of us. Whenever we do a "big shop" there's inevitably 10% of things thrown out because it went off. So now we do more regular small shops, for 2-3 days of food and there's probably 1% waste

Deub

Does the 30% include food thrown away by shops?
It would make sense.

dudara

I’ve never thought about it as a % but there are times when I find myself throwing away half bags of lettuce, old veg etc. I try to be fairly disciplined, only buy enough meat & veg for a few days at a time, as well as always keeping a few pieces in reserve in the freezer. As there is only two of us, I tend to freeze loaves of bread and defrost a few slices as we need it.

I find that if you do massive shops, you’re more likely to end up with uneaten food.

Once of twice a week, I’ll do a “fridge day” where you cook a meal using only the bits & pieces from the fridge or veg rack. Great way of using up the ends of cheese, tired veg etc.

Breaston Plants

About 19.81%.

freshpopcorn

Deub wrote: »

Does the 30% include food thrown away by shops?
It would make sense.

I was unsure of this.
However most of the supermarkets now give this to charity.

Graces7

none. compost has the rare compostable bits and the cats get protein etc

gozunda

Little to nothing - What is leftover or waste goes to animals or composting.

But according to one government website

Food Waste (2017)

In Ireland there is over one million tonnes of food waste disposed of each year. Around 1/3 of this comes from households. Every household in Ireland is responsible for 1 Ton of Food Waste. The cost per household is between €400 and €1000 per year. 

https://www.dccae.gov.ie/en-ie/environment/topics/sustainable-development/waste-prevention-programme/Pages/Stop-Food-Waste0531-7331.aspx

Yer Da sells Avon

Not a lot. If something passes the sniff-test, I tend to ignore the best before or use by date.

Graces7

freshpopcorn wrote: »

I was unsure of this.
However most of the supermarkets now give this to charity.

some do but if you look behind eg tesco, skips full of wasted food. I once asked a lad in lidl when he was putting dozens of loaves in a bin bag.... emerged with one up my sleeve . .I emailed the manager later and he told me he was happy to let me have what I asked for for eg animal feeding.

They can only work within the dates on the food apparently

Alf Veedersane

freshpopcorn wrote: »

I recently heard something on TV and it said that we waste about 30% off food per year.
I was think about this and I doubt our house does this. All meat/fish/vegetables/etc are eaten. Fat/scraps/ go to the pets and peels/skins go to compost/recycling.
Bread/cakes/Biscuits/etc are generally eaten.
Frozen food/dry goods/etc are generally eaten.

We sometimes throw out bread crusts but the birds get these. Apart from that all that would be thrown out would be something we didn't like and Jams/mustard/etc that doesn't get used.

I'd say we'd throw out well below 5% off food a year.

What percentage of food do you waste?

The stuff that goes to compost/recycling is still waste. But you do sound like you throw out less than the 30%.

And it's something that isn't obvious necessarily. It's mostly fresh food people throw out becaise they haven't used it in time. Super 6 deals that were bought because bargain but never actually used.

I don't really eat bread but my OH will buy a half own every couple of days and invariably a quarter of that will end up binned. Cream, fruit and occasionally potatoes are the other main culprits. But I'd have said it would be a fair bit less than 30%.

But the 30% isn't necessarily a figure arrived at by the EPA or an Irish study but I would imagine its not hugely wrong

Tombo2001

I was chatting recently to an optician, and mentioned how every time I buy a pair of sunglasses I seem to lose them within a month.

His response was that I should go out an spend €200 on a pair, and then i'd make sure not to lose them.

My point - when supermarkets are selling packets of apples or carrots for 50 cents, people wont care about them going off.

Food doesn't cost enough. I really mean that. Our supermarkets depend on a model whereby they are bringing in super cheap food from 5000 miles away. God knows what impact that is having on the people or on the ecology in Peru/ Kenya/ Namibia wherever its coming from.

Its next to impossible to live off a diet of Irish food, especially fruit and veg.

And don't get me started on all the plastic wrapping.....

LimeFruitGum

I find I always end up throwing out broccoli:(

We have improved a lot on this front. I actually stopped buying the 800g sized breads because we never finish it off. So I get a smaller loaf for the weekend and that does us fine. I box up dinner leftovers for lunch, so we don’t always need the bread for lunchtime sandwiches.

Himself brings home leftover fruit from work if he can, so they’re perfect for my breakfast smoothies. There’s nothing wrong with them, they just don’t want fruit lying around the office over the weekend.

suicide_circus

better than we used to be but still too much

LimeFruitGum

Out of curiosity, is there typically more wastage if there are kids in the house? It is just me and my partner at home, and I know what it takes to feed us every week.

I hear of some parents having to cook different meals every night because one kid doesn’t like spuds (or whatever), and there’s bound to be some wastage creeping in there?

freshpopcorn

LimeFruitGum wrote: »

Out of curiosity, is there typically more wastage if there are kids in the house? It is just me and my partner at home, and I know what it takes to feed us every week.

I hear of some parents having to cook different meals every night because one kid doesn’t like spuds (or whatever), and there’s bound to be some wastage creeping in there?

Whilst we are adults. We'd often eat different meals but we shop around this.ie We don't food for somebody who won't eat it.
With kids they'd probably be the odd thing.

StillThinking

I meal prep so the only things that goes in the compost is veg peel and coffee grounds, I freeze all my meat and only take it out when I want to use it. I would say I'm on less than 1% food waste a year.
I do know quite a few people who do big shops with great intentions and end up throwing most of it out as they were eating take aways. I once went to visit a friend and she was just clearing out her fridge, I seriously couldn't believe the stuff she was throwing away, full chickens, packs of mince, steaks! I could have fed my family for a week with half the stuff she was putting in the bin then she wonders why she's skint the whole time

Alf Veedersane

Kids have a habit of deciding they don't want something at the last minute. Or that they like it less so plates aren't always emptied.

Graces7

LimeFruitGum wrote: »

I find I always end up throwing out broccoli:(

We have improved a lot on this front. I actually stopped buying the 800g sized breads because we never finish it off. So I get a smaller loaf for the weekend and that does us fine. I box up dinner leftovers for lunch, so we don’t always need the bread for lunchtime sandwiches.

Himself brings home leftover fruit from work if he can, so they’re perfect for my breakfast smoothies. There’s nothing wrong with them, they just don’t want fruit lying around the office over the weekend.

The freezer is a great help in not wasting. I buy a large sliced loaf as I am now housebound and shop by email/delivery every 2 weeks. So I just take out a slice or two as needed. Mostly for toast. When it arrives I split it into smaller bags too . Starting to bake more too now!

theteal

I was about to type how we're relatively good on the food waste front but that would be a lie. I'm quite good. I'm oblivious to best before dates - most use by dates too tbh. Basically if it passes the smell and mould test, I'm cooking/eating it.

Now, MrsTeal on the other hand, well, I don't think she'll eat meat on it's use by date. I got in trouble only the other day for buying oranges with only a day left to best before date - nothing wrong with them, a bag of 8-10 only lasts 2 days in our house, they get eaten that quickly. I'm also sick of throwing out full unopened punnets of mushrooms. I don't eat the things so I'm not taking any of the blame for that. I've often heard the excuse that she doesn't want the child to develop issues with food :rolleyes: - the child wolfs everything down.

Anyway, it appears that we're officially part of the problem.

Alf Veedersane

I've seen an indicative figure of €650 a year which is only €12.50 a week in wasted food. An example given was half a loaf, couple of eggs, leftover dinner, salad bags, cooked rice, yoghurt, bananas/fruit. Not unfathomable that that would be wasted in a lot of houses. Made worse where people take Best Before dates as hard and fast dates the same as Use By....kinda like Mrs Teal and Mrs Veedersane do.

Planning the food for the week also helps when it comes to not buying food that will ultimately end up in the bin.

If you're vaguely interested, there are some good resources on the stopfoodwaste.ie website like a calendar of when Irish veg that is in season

Dakotabigone

Some unused ketchup or bbq sauce portion from Macdonalds.

Buford T. Justice XIX

LimeFruitGum wrote: »

Out of curiosity, is there typically more wastage if there are kids in the house? It is just me and my partner at home, and I know what it takes to feed us every week.

I hear of some parents having to cook different meals every night because one kid doesn’t like spuds (or whatever), and there’s bound to be some wastage creeping in there?

Not here, what the kids don't eat is normally recycled for my lunch next day or given to the dog.


Which is pretty much the same thing, now that I think about it:pac:


I was chatting to a friend lately and he said he remembered me saying that I used have the kids leftovers for lunch next day and was horrified. Now he has 3 of his own and his lunch is his kids leftovers:D

Graces7

[QUOTE=Alf Veedersane;109346734]The stuff that goes to compost/recycling is still waste. But you do sound like you throw out less than the 30%.

And it's something that isn't obvious necessarily. It's mostly fresh food people throw out becaise they haven't used it in time. Super 6 deals that were bought because bargain but never actually used.

I don't really eat bread but my OH will buy a half own every couple of days and invariably a quarter of that will end up binned. Cream, fruit and occasionally potatoes are the other main culprits. But I'd have said it would be a fair bit less than 30%.

But the 30% isn't necessarily a figure arrived at by the EPA or an Irish study but I would imagine its not hugely wrong[/QUOTE]

I am meaning potato and carrot peelings and the outer leaves and stalks of cabbage etc .. although they might not be counted as food!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

No waste food here whatsoever. There's now only the two of us but, even when the kids were here, we have never had food waste. Peelings, teabags, eggshells etc go in the composter. No cooked food is ever uneaten. Bread, meats etc are bulk bought and frozen, so we only use it as we need it.

Bread crusts or veg that I didn't get to in time, yeah. I generally meal prep so i try to use it all up and only buy per recipe

LimeFruitGum

Graces7 wrote: »

The freezer is a great help in not wasting. I buy a large sliced loaf as I am now housebound and shop by email/delivery every 2 weeks. So I just take out a slice or two as needed. Mostly for toast. When it arrives I split it into smaller bags too . Starting to bake more too now!

Oh definitely. Splitting up the loaf is a great idea.
We could very much do with a larger freezer at home

Woke Hogan

0%

People wasting food should be prosecuted, though I do understand that would be very difficult to enforce.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

LimeFruitGum wrote: »

Oh definitely. Splitting up the loaf is a great idea.
We could very much do with a larger freezer at home

Hence why we put a second freezer out in the garage. No waste and never stuck for food either.

Woke Hogan

Woke Hogan wrote: »

0%

People wasting food should be prosecuted, though I do understand that would be very difficult to enforce.

Banana peels are especially nutritious. What isn't eaten goes into the compost heap, technically little wasted.

s7ryf3925pivug

Dog and compost means it's quite low, but we let more go past its best than we'd like. The guessing game of 'what will the baby eat today' doesn't help

LimeFruitGum

StillThinking wrote: »

I do know quite a few people who do big shops with great intentions and end up throwing most of it out as they were eating take aways. I once went to visit a friend and she was just clearing out her fridge, I seriously couldn't believe the stuff she was throwing away, full chickens, packs of mince, steaks! I could have fed my family for a week with half the stuff she was putting in the bin then she wonders why she's skint the whole time

Oh that would wreck my head too. Planning is great, but that’s no use if you don’t carry it out.

Dial Hard

StillThinking wrote: »

I once went to visit a friend and she was just clearing out her fridge, I seriously couldn't believe the stuff she was throwing away, full chickens, packs of mince, steaks! I could have fed my family for a week with half the stuff she was putting in the bin then she wonders why she's skint the whole time

I have two friends like this, they're both divils for doing a big shop with great intentions of cooking every night, then just get takeaways. They're both fat too, go figure.

I suspect people like this are pushing the average figure way, way up. We waste very, very little food in our house and any of my family/friends who cook most nights would be the same. But for every household like ours, there's one like the example above.

I HATE throwing out food. I take it as a personal affront to my planning abilities.

wakka12

The odd time some groceries go off before I manage to get around to them. Im living alone so sometimes a few pieces of the bread loaf go mouldy before I get to the end, apart from that I consume everything I buy, nowehre near 30% is wasted, maybe 5%

Electric Sheep

It's just the two of us and we live in the city. We shop every day or two on an as needed basis. Very little gets wasted.

The "Big Shop" mentality is responsible for a lot of food waste.

freshpopcorn

It was actually the big shop that helped us cut down on food waste. Now we go out and get most shopping on Friday.
We used always be poping in before buying little things when we used be hungry and lots ended up getting wasted.

DaeryssaOne

I'd say I'd be somewhere around the 10% mark. I try to plan around what's fresh in the fridge and get to it before it's too late but sometimes it can be difficult to get through a big salad bag or something like a bag of onions etc myself.

Cream, milk, bread and veg are my biggest culprits, I'll always try to get meat in the freezer before it's too late but the challenge then is a) remembering it's actually there and not buying it again and b) also remembering to take it out that morning to defrost

iamwhoiam

We throw out almost nothing . I buy what we need , cook what we can eat and rarely go by use by dates . The only food I would not use past it use by date is chicken or fish . Leftovers usually used for next day lunch or in an omlette .
Bread crusts and fruit peel go to the geese down the road .
I don't actually understand people throwing out dry food like biscuits and cakes and sweets that are past the use by , unless moldy they are fine for ages after it !

Apparently the producers of bagged salad are making a fortune because so much is actually not eaten and more bought .

My dad used to say Mr Coleman made his fortune on the mustard left on the side of the plate !

Alf Veedersane

Food waste that one puts in their own composter is still food waste. It's just being composted by you.

The reality is that skins and peelings etc exist so there technically wouldn't be zero food waste. Unless you eat all that as well.

Dial Hard

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Food waste that one puts in their own composter is still food waste. It's just being composted by you.

The reality is that skins and peelings etc exist so there technically wouldn't be zero food waste. Unless you eat all that as well.

In fairness, this is splitting hairs somewhat. I think the vast majority of people would consider wasted food as food that you would normally eat but ended up throwing out. Not peels and trimmings.

Signore Fancy Pants

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Food waste that one puts in their own composter is still food waste. It's just being composted by you.

The reality is that skins and peelings etc exist so there technically wouldn't be zero food waste. Unless you eat all that as well.

I know a guy who eats kiwi fruit whole.

He's an asshole but that's not related.

Harry Palmr

I'm pretty good about this, wasted food is wasted money, and I hate wasting money!

Alf Veedersane

Dial Hard wrote: »

In fairness, this is splitting hairs somewhat. I think the vast majority of people would consider wasted food as food that you would normally eat but ended up throwing out. Not peels and trimmings.

It is and it isn't. If there is wasted food that goes in a home composted, it's still potentially avoidable waste. And avoidable consumption of resources further back in the chain.

The point about peelings was just a general point that there would never be zero waste in the sense where there will be food waste collected and managed in Ireland. As distinct from suggesting that people who are quite efficient with food resources and wasted little actual food were still sources of waste.

Alf Veedersane

Dale Doback wrote: »

I know a guy who eats kiwi fruit whole.

He's an asshole but that's not related.

Did that once. My tongue did not thank me.

Grandeeod

Dont waste much at all. I do regular small shops. Leftovers on plates goes in the compost bin if theres any. I use my freezer with deadly precision. My worst crime is out of date coleslaw

Dakotabigone

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Food waste that one puts in their own composter is still food waste. It's just being composted by you.

The reality is that skins and peelings etc exist so there technically wouldn't be zero food waste. Unless you eat all that as well.

Let us eat our excrement also in case any went to waste.