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Food Waste

December 30, 2011 @ 20:30 By Gavin Webber 9 Comments

If you are like me, you hate to waste food.  Whether you grow it yourself or buy it from the farmers market or at a pinch the supermarket, so much energy and water goes into growing our food that it is almost a crime to waste it.  All those food miles consumed just so we can throw it away into landfill to generate methane, which is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.  Talk about a double whammy!

On the off chance that we have any food that happens to go off, then we dispose of it in this order:

  1. Dogs, if they don’t eat it then,
  2. Chickens, if they don’t eat it then,
  3. Worm farm, then
  4. Compost

No food scraps enter our landfill bin at all.  There is always some animal willing to consume it, whether it be beast or insect!

So on that note, here is a great video that shows just how much food is wasted during production and consumption in Australia.  It featured on the Hungry Beast show on ABC.

It certainly was an eye opener for me.  Half the mango crop thrown away?  What an atrocity!

More on food in a post very soon….  I have a surprise for everyone!

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Related

Filed Under: food, Food miles

← Christmas Wrap Up 2011 2011 In Retrospect →

About Gavin Webber

Gavin Webber's daily goal is to live a more sustainable lifestyle, in an effort to reduce his family's environmental footprint so we can all make a difference for our children & future generations to come.

Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

Comments

  1. Frugal Queen says

    December 30, 2011 at 20:44

    I hearby declare that we don’t throw any food away, all veggie peelings are composted, everything is eaten!

    Reply
  2. Gavin Webber says

    December 30, 2011 at 22:20

    Well done Froogs!

    Reply
  3. cathy@home says

    December 31, 2011 at 01:59

    I hereby pledge to my best ability not to throw food away

    Reply
  4. MaryV says

    December 31, 2011 at 02:43

    Amen to that! When I was growing up, food waste went to pigs (for meaty stuff and veg), chickens (veg and egg shells), and then compost. Even though I live near the city, it drives me nuts throwing anything away. Keep on keepin’ on!

    Reply
  5. K says

    December 31, 2011 at 02:44

    We are lucky here in Ontario in that we have curbside compost pick up. So, for me, things like cooked bones, which I won’t feed to the dogs and can’t go into my compost, are composted by the region.

    The curbside program takes everything – cooked, raw, bones, fats, etc. So between the dogs, the compost and the recycling, no food gets put into the conventional garbage stream.

    We also have curbside pick up for all recyclables, so my actual “garbage” is pretty small most weeks – and there have been weeks that I have no garbage!

    One thing I want to start this year – putting veggie peeling, etc. into the freezer to use in stock. I make beef and chicken stock, and I need to start making veggie too! I finally got a pressure canner, so there is NO excuse not to increase my stock making 🙂

    Reply
  6. Frogdancer says

    December 31, 2011 at 08:30

    Like you Gavin, we don’t waste any food at all. However, I’ve been reviewing my finances and I blogged today about a different sort of food waste…. takeaway.
    (I’m still reeling….!)

    Reply
  7. Anonymous says

    December 31, 2011 at 13:54

    We were raised to not be wasteful. Mom had lots of tricks to get the most use of everything. The few times I mess up and let something go bad, it bothers me. But, composting is somewhat redeeming.

    brenda from arkansas

    Reply
  8. Farmer Fee says

    January 2, 2012 at 19:07

    Like you we also have a system where if the chooks or ducks don’t want it it goes to the worms or the compost and I only buy what I need because my budget won’t allow for the extras anyway…I hope to own some acreage one day so saving is a priority!

    Reply
  9. organics recycling says

    January 31, 2012 at 22:43

    Thanks for sharing the nice video

    Reply

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About Gavin Webber

About Gavin Webber

An Ordinary Australian Man Who Has A Green Epiphany Whilst Watching A Documentary, Gets a Hybrid Car, Plants A Large Organic Vegetable Garden, Goes Totally Solar, Lowers Consumption, Feeds Composts Bins and Worms, Harvests Rainwater, Raises Chickens, Makes Cheese and Soap, and Eats Locally. All In The Effort To Reduce Our Family's Carbon Footprint So We Can Start Making A Difference For Our Children & Future Generations To Come.

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