Tips on Cutting Down the Amount of Food You Throw Away

When news first broke on the 40% of perfectly good food we throw away as waste on an annual basis, the shock was enough for the news to stay circulating for a few days — a feat rare in online journalism these days. If we expand the circle of perpetrators to include other countries, the stats grew even more staggering with a third, or 1.3 billion tons, of food produced.

According to a report by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, about 868 million people were going hungry from 2008 to 2010. Policymakers and global organizations strongly believe we could feed everyone with the just a quarter of the food we toss alone.

While we may not see any significant changes in policies addressing our glaring mismanagement of resources yet, that doesn't mean we can't work on minimizing the effects of one of the worst wastes of all in everyday life. Greatist's list of 29 sensible strategies to counter food waste is one tip sheet you can keep in hand when facing three common scenarios — at the store, at home and during meals. The tips are equal parts straightforward (using airtight food storage containers) and somewhat deceptive (going tray-less at cafeterias to avoid piling on the food).

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