Waste Not, Want Not

Thyme to Chat

Did you know that food waste in landfills is a big source of methane gas? Yes, the very same gas produced by the meat and dairy industry is created by the food we throw away!

If you want to relieve your own climate anxiety or cut costs, managing your food waste can be extremely beneficial.

Learn how on this episode of Thyme to Chat. Subscribe on Substack for new show alerts and more!

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Delicious Garbage

Current estimates are that we throw away 1/3 of the food we produce for humans. Most of this is a result of weak links in the food supply chain, but we throw away a lot of food at home too. Some say that folks who eat a plant-heavy diet produce more food waste. However, because producing food for the animals takes more resources (and adds a layer of additional waste) your personal foodprint isn’t so black and white.

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Zooming back out to big business, so much edible food is thrown out for absurd reasons. You can find a lot of perfectly good food, just check out these dumpster finds on Tik Tok. If you are inspired to dumpster dive, know that it is important to be safe. Wear good shoes and be aware of your surroundings. Despite the stigma, dumpster diving is legal in many states—so long as you aren’t trespassing. This my friend is where you run into store staff yelling at you or even law enforcement.

Just look at this stand-off between mutual aid volunteers and the popo as folks tried to rescue hundreds upon hundreds of pounds of food. This was food that had to be thrown out due to a severe winter storm that cut power to many people.

I have always had a hard time wrapping my brain around the cruelness that is embedded in these mass systems. Beyond the mind f*ck of mass food waste and food insecurity coexisting. If the industry was more efficient and motivated by serving people—not profit—we would eliminate an absurd amount of injustice.

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In the show, I do mention the sadness in the waste of life, but don’t share the methodology for the mass culling of livestock that occurred at the start of COVID. This isn’t new, but the scope of what happened was. Large-scale depopulation is a common practice that still occurs during disease breakouts.

Anyway… I will stop being a downer now!

Managing Food Waste at Home

If you have experienced any level of food insecurity at any point in life, chances are that you are at least aware of your food waste. You might even overpack your fridge and need it to feel full for emotional security. Whatever the case may be, managing your fridge inventory is a simple but BIG thing you can do to reduce your food waste.

You can do this by:

1. Establishing a date and rotate system
2. Creating a use-first zone AND putting it in your whole household's brains
3. Developing a deeper understanding of your ingredients

• How to store them
• How to know when it actually goes bad

Spoilage is definitely something to be cautious and aware of, but you might be surprised by how long some things can last. We are so dependent on refrigeration that many of us have forgotten how to store or preserve food. If this is something you’re interested in friend PLEASE buy this book. Then message us so we can be nerds together.

Finally, there is the use everything club. We mention some great tips in the episode, but we also love Mei & Irene of Food Waste Feast! Their content is fantastic, and you can search by ingredient on the Food Waste Feast site.

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