The figures on food wasted in the U.S. are sobering: an estimated 145 billion meals are thrown away per year. All in all, food makes up nearly one-quarter of the municipal waste stream. Getting a handle on it could be a triple win — helping to save money, feed more people, and reduce the load that goes into landfills.
So if you’d like to do better, how do you go about it? Easing the entire food waste crisis might be too much for any one person, but small individual changes can make a difference. That’s where regional food-saving experts have some smart advice.
Janet Irizarry, founder of a household food-waste reduction program called My Mindful Kitchen, is one of those experts. As a Culinary Institute of America instructor, Irizarry noticed while teaching her “Intro to Hospitality Industry” course that an increasing number of students weren’t fully aware of either the effort that goes into getting food from farm to grocery store to table, or the importance of sustainability. Not that it’s necessarily their fault — younger generations grew up in a world of abundance and convenience foods, she says.
She first organized the Hudson Valley Food Waste Challenge, a successful event during which 80 families participated in various waste-reduction techniques. From there, she created My Mindful Kitchen as a 10-week change program. “Once you start to become aware of the amount of waste that occurs, and how small things like properly storing produce in your fridge can make a difference, it changes your perspective,” she says.
Irizarry suggests actionable steps starting with organization — taking an hour or two to go through cabinets and your pantry. From there, plan grocery lists around meals and your calendar, noting any holidays with big dinners or busy days that you might need a simple meal, to avoid overbuying or under-planning.
Another tip: When stocking your fridge, keep in mind that not all foods “get along,” she says. “For example, if you keep apples next to cucumbers, your cukes will spoil faster. This is because some foods produce ethylene, and others are sensitive to ethylene.”
She also suggests rinsing berries and storing them in glass jars, and keeping herbs fresh for weeks by snipping the ends and standing them in a half-inch of water within a sealable container.
Fareground, a Beacon-based food access program, also offers a program to prevent food waste through a team of dedicated volunteers. “We do a huge amount of food rescue,” executive director Jamie Levato says — more than 65,000 pounds of food in 2024 alone.
“An announcement by ReFed said that nearly 40% of the U.S. food supply is wasted — there are not just so many opportunities to rescue food, but to prevent waste in the first place,” Levato says.
Fareground uses an app through which caterers, farmers, and households can document their unused food, and a volunteer will come to pick it up. Rescued food is sorted into three categories: grocery condition, slightly imperfect that can be cooked and donated as meals, or ready for compost, usually through Beacon’s municipal compost program.
One means of waste prevention Levato suggests is thinking ahead for food-heavy parties and events, considering ways to keep leftovers at appropriate temperatures so that they’re safe to donate afterward. She also encourages learning about the dates on food packaging. “Many assume that a sell-by date means an expiration,” she says, “but for some products it just means the item should be taken off the store shelf for restock or because it might lose its maximum flavor or crunchiness, but sometimes it’s still safe to eat.”
Even if an action is small, doing something is better than nothing because it may inspire others. “So much beautiful, edible, perfectly good food is being thrown away,” Levato says. “Think about all the water, fossil fuels, and human energy that went into growing, processing, and cooking that food — and it isn’t even feeding anyone.”
Adds Irizarry: “So many people are feeling out of control in today’s world, but this is something everyone can start doing right now to feel more in control. Your dollar goes farther, which combats the effects of inflation, [and] you waste less food, which protects the environment. People often think ‘I’m just one person — how much difference does it make?’ but small changes can lead to a great impact.”
