Most of us believe we’re pretty good at not wasting food. “Seventy-five percent of Americans say they waste less than the average American,” Dana Gunders, the executive director of ReFED, an organization that offers food waste solutions for businesses, tells Teen Vogue. Hmm… Turns out, we tend to think we’re better at consuming the food we buy than we truly are. In fact, what’s taking up the most space in landfills worldwide isn’t all the old clothes we couldn’t donate or the plastic containers that didn’t get recycled — it’s food waste.
According to an analysis by ReFED, the United States discarded 91 million tons of food in 2021, more than any other country on the planet. Nearly 50% of discarded food comes from households — all households. Millennials and Gen Z'ers are the two most active generations to stand up against climate change, but research shows we are not any better than our elders when it comes to tossing out food — and the experts Teen Vogue spoke to say we may be worse.
Why are we wasting so much? It’s not just that we order via Grubhub too often; it’s that we don’t think enough about our food, says Gunders. A main reason we waste about a third of the food we bring home is that we misunderstand expiration labels such as “sell by,” “use by,” and “best before.” We may feel more comfortable throwing out food that’s past any date printed on its package and shelling out money for a new grocery haul because we think we could get sick if we eat expired food. (We’ll expound on this later, but Gunders recommends we use our senses to determine if food has actually gone bad.)
Another common reason we waste so much food is that we’re more likely to chuck perfectly good leftovers than to eat them, says Gunders. And maybe that's because we’d simply prefer to eat something else.
So, how did we become so prodigal with our food? Gunders says it comes down to a lack of education about the specifics of food safety and food management skills, including how to plan meals, store food, cook food, make a meal with an array of random ingredients, and knowing when food is still safe to eat. The reason many of us haven’t worked on improving these skills, according to Gunders, may be that food is readily available in our society, so we don’t value it as much as we should.
Where does our food waste go?
It’s easy to assume that throwing out bad, potentially bad, or just unwanted food isn’t a big deal — it decomposes, so it’s basically harmless, right? But that doesn’t mean the waste process itself doesn’t cause harm.
Anything we put in the garbage gets sent to a landfill or an incinerator, Gunders explains: “In the US, landfills are the third largest source of methane, [which is responsible for a quarter of the global warming we experience today], and food is [one of] the largest source[s] of methane in landfills.” (Incinerators aren’t any better, as they produce hazardous air pollutants, including highly toxic, cancer-causing dioxins.) Food that’s dumped in a landfill also produces nitrogen pollution as it decays, which creates dead zones, places of low oxygen where most organisms can’t survive.
Also, we need to consider the environmental footprint of food even before it’s thrown away, because that’s when the majority of harm takes place, says Gunders. Food requires resources to grow, harvest, package, transport, and store, which means that when we waste food, we also waste those resources.
Food waste habits of millennials and Gen Z'ers
According to a 2017 UK study from the Waste and Resources Action Programme, millennials and Gen Z'ers discard the most food. We don’t have comparable data available for Americans, but the experts Teen Vogue has interviewed say we’d likely have the same findings in the US.
The reason we might waste the most is likely due to our lack of knowledge about where food comes from. “Compared to my generation, which grew up in the 1970s and ’80s, [millennials and Gen Z’ers have] less of a connection to how food is produced,” says Pamela Ann Koch, associate professor of nutrition and education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Many of us probably don’t acknowledge and appreciate the effort that’s gone into making the food that’s readily available to us, so we don’t feel guilty (enough) for wasting it.
Millennials and Gen Z'ers were, “on average, raised by wealthier families, [specifically by baby boomers], than generations prior, so they might have a lack of stinginess within the household,” says Eve Turow-Paul, author of Hungry: Avocado Toast, Instagram Influencers, and Our Search for Connection and Meaning and the executive director of the Food for Climate League. “With wealth comes the ability to waste and not worry about it.”
Apparently, the generations coming up behind us have pretty similar food waste habits. Says Turow-Paul, researchers have found that children have difficulty identifying where food comes from beyond the grocery store. One 2011 study, published in the Journal of Agricultural Education, looked at urban students from kindergarten through 12th grade and found that many could not explain the origins of certain everyday foods and “lack[ed] a basic understanding of food processing, manufacturing, and marketing.”
If you don't understand the different aspects that go into a food’s creation, Turow-Paul adds, you’re probably going to value it less: “If you value it less, you're more likely to throw it out.”
The pandemic ushered in an era of people eating more meals at home. While cooking at home has many benefits, it’s also important to be mindful of how we shop for groceries, prepare food, and store leftovers, since most food waste comes from our homes.
How to be better at not letting food go to waste
“Doing just a little better makes a difference,” says Gunders. Here are six ways to waste less:
It’s not surprising that most of us feel disconnected from our food supply and how it’s produced today. Often we order pre-made meals via our phones or grab weekly essentials from the grocery store without much thought.
One way to build a better relationship with food is to visit a farmers’ market. Of course, this isn’t easy for everyone to do, since these markets are likely to be more expensive than grocery stores and not accessible enough for weekly shopping. But if you do have an opportunity to visit one, Koch says, it’s worth it. The experience connects you to the people growing and distributing your food and encourages you to eat food that’s in season, she explains, which encourages you to appreciate it more.
When possible, shop in smaller quantities. Says Gunders, “If you have a store nearby and can go on a more regular basis, that gives you the ability to ask yourself, What do I feel like tonight? Do I already have this in my fridge? Can I use that up?”
If shopping in smaller quantities isn’t possible, such as in rural areas and neighborhoods without many quality grocery stores, consider when you’ll eat each food item before you buy it. For example, Koch says, “for berries, which go bad very quickly, you should have a plan to eat them in the next few days.”
“We vastly underutilize our freezers,” says Gunders. That’s unfortunate because “almost everything" can be frozen and freezers are “like this magic pause button.” Freezing is particularly helpful with managing leftovers since we often don’t want them the next day, but they can seem like a godsend when you don't feel like cooking.
For large amounts of leftovers, suggests Koch, freeze them in smaller batches so you only need to defrost one meal’s-worth at a time.
Buying frozen produce is also a handy option for reducing food waste. “In some cases, they have the equivalent, if not more, nutrients than fresh vegetables because they’re frozen right after harvest,” says Gunders. “Plus, they’re cut and washed for you and are inexpensive.”
When in doubt about what you “should” peel, trim, or toss, look it up on Save the Food. This website offers tips on how to store, prep, and use just about every single food. Says Gunders, knowing that you can eat broccoli leaves (not just the florets), for instance, and that they are full of nutrients is useful in reducing food waste. Plus, it helps you get more food for your buck.
There are far too many misconceptions about dates on food items. “The dates on food are not about safety, and they're not telling you to throw the food out,” says Gunders. “They’re just indicators of freshness of food — when food is at its best quality.”
Sometimes the dates are completely made up. “I've had smaller companies tell me their product just got into a supermarket and they were told they need a date on it," she continues. "They were like, ‘Well, four weeks sounds about right!’ They can literally make it up.”
Instead of deciding whether to eat or toss food by looking at the date on the package, use your senses. “Our bodies are well-equipped to recognize the signs of decay,” says Gunders. If food is past its expiry date but smells fine, looks fine, tastes fine, it’s probably fine to eat. “Just be careful with products that have a high risk of listeria, which is also what pregnant women are told to avoid — like deli meats, ready-to-eat sandwiches, and sushi.”
Plan one night a week to use up all the food in your fridge, suggests Gunders. Try a “fridge night” or “Waste-Less Wednesdays” and whip up a new meal. Think soup, stir-fry, tacos, frittatas, shepherd’s pie, pasta primavera, meat-lover’s/veggie-lover’s pizza, or a multifruit crumble.
If your city doesn’t have municipal composting, there’s probably a local farmers’ market that collects leftover food scraps, says Turow-Paul. You can use a home composter or get crafty with a DIY version using an old trash can, dry scraps like leaves and twigs, and water. (Check out the EPA’s guide for specific instructions.) Just be sure to let in air to prevent the creation of methane, rotate the can daily, and keep it away from your home (to prevent fires and infestations). But it’s worth it — you’ll be doing your garden — or your window plants — good. “Composting is just breaking down food and turning it back into soil — a very rich soil,” says Gunders. That’s something we can all feel pretty good about.
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