The Climate Change Collective is an initiative where the blogging community unites behind a common goal. This month’s lead post comes from A Sustainably Simple Life who considers the environmental impact of food waste. It contains some statistics that should shock you.

The environmental impact of food waste

When I was growing up, my mum taught us it’s a sin to waste food. Mum’s frugal tendencies and “waste not want not” attitude aren’t surprising. As one of 13 children, nothing ever went to waste when she was a child. Food was precious and, with that many mouths to feed at the kitchen table, others quickly snapped up anything left on anyone’s plate.

Despite my frugal upbringing, I admit to becoming desensitized to the issue of food waste as a young adult. In recent years, I’ve reawakened to the issue thanks to my increased focus on sustainability.

I encourage you to read the original post from A Sustainably Simple Life to learn why food waste matters, where it comes from, and how to prevent it. I was shocked to learn that one third of food produced globally is wasted, and that food waste in the United States produces more greenhouse gas emissions than the aviation industry. There is clearly an opportunity here.

The post also includes an excellent explanation of Best Before dates and how their misinterpretation contributes to food waste.

A best before date is more an indication of freshness than it is of spoiled food. Food eaten after its best before date may have a different texture, flavour, or change in nutritional value, but the food is more often than not still edible.

A Sustainably Simple Life

Why Food Waste is a Big Deal and How to Prevent it

The restaurant industry has a lot to answer for

At home, we’ve done a decent job of cutting our household food waste thanks to adopting the tips I shared in 12 practical ways you can cut food waste.

Despite my efforts to reduce food waste at home, an area where I still have difficulty is when eating out. Restaurant portions are far too big for the average person—favouring quantity over quality in many cases. It’s no wonder obesity is such a big problem in North American society.

As an example, during a recent trip to Nashville, I went out for dinner at an Italian restaurant. I told the server I was having difficulty deciding between the Chicken Parmigiana and the Gnocchi. He suggested I order the Chicken Parmigiana with a side order of gnocchi. It sounded reasonable, so I agreed. I should have known better!

When my meal arrived, the Chicken Parmigiana was the size of the plate. And the “side order” of gnocchi was more than I would normally eat as a full meal. I gave it my best shot but there was no way I could eat it all. If I had been at home, I would have taken the leftovers home in a doggy bag. But with no way to store or reheat it in my hotel room, it went to waste.

An industry that serves too much food, knowing full well much of it will go to waste, needs to be held accountable.

Beyond the food left on people’s plates, the restaurant industry generates food waste as a matter of policy. People who have worked at Canada’s largest fast-food chains have told me how much food they throw away each day. Instead of donating that food to people in need, or letting staff take it home, procedure dictates it goes in the dumpster.

As consumers, we need to learn what the restaurants we patronize are doing about food waste, and other forms of waste. If we support restaurants with sustainable practices, the industry will take notice.

Let’s keep in touch! Join my mailing list and I’ll email you when I add a new post.

About the Climate Change Collective

The Climate Change Collective started after I left a comment on a blog post by Jamie Ad Stories. Jamie and I wanted to find a way to keep the climate change message top of mind for everyone, so I put out a tweet to see what kind of interest there would be in a climate-change-related blogging collaboration. The Climate Change Collective was born!

The members of the collective take turns writing a monthly blog post sharing their unique perspective about climate change. After the post is published, the rest of the group keeps the conversation going by sharing a link to the post on their blogs along with their thoughts and ideas.

If you’re a like-minded blogger and would like to join our collective, please get in touch. More voices joining the conversation means more attention to the problems plaguing our planet!

More Climate Change Collective posts

The Climate Change Collective series has been going strong for over two years. See Two years of the Climate Change Collective series for a recap of the posts we published in the first two years.

Recent posts in the series

• Is Climate Change Overlooked in Schools? – Jamie Ad Stories
• Highlighting Useful Ways to be Sustainable This Winter – Transatlantic Notes
• Carrot or stick? Which works better to reduce our environmental foodprint? – Boomer Eco Crusader

Thanks to A Sustainably Simple Life for being part of our Climate Change Collective and for opening our eyes to the environmental impact of food waste.

What are your tips to reduce food waste? Tell me your thoughts below.