AGRI5004 Management of Food Waste and Loss

Recommendations on how to reduce food waste

There are several practices and proposals that can be used to reduce the raising cases of food waste. They range from technology applications to practicable human activities. The following are the most appropriate and recommendable ways of reducing food waste.

Planning

Planning is an effective way through which someone can avoid food waste by applying it. A plan is associated with people who have a wide variety of foods, diet quality, and body weight status. People can employ different meal plan depending on their meals available to them and diet recommended for them. (Ducrot, Mejean, & Aroumougame, 2017) Planning simply entails preparation of a list that contains timely meals in mind. This is beneficial in that it helps in saving money as well as time and more important is that it’s a tool for a healthy diet. With proper planning, one can even buy more food substance that they expected and they are likely to keep fresh and use it all compared to when they purchase without planning. Under planning, the following are the most recommendable techniques that will help reduce food waste;

• Always, to avoid food waste, there is a need to run a compiled list of meals as well as their ingredients that you already enjoy. This will help you to choose the food you want to eat easily, and of more importance, it will help you avoid buying unnecessary food materials when shopping.
• It’s important to prepare a shopping list that is based on the number of meals that you can manage at home depending on diet requirements too.
• Always before going shopping, make the periodic planning of meals and purchase only the food items required for those meals. The periodic planning may be weekly, monthly or any other period depending on one’s ability and volume of food consumption.(Porterfiled, 2016)
• Before purchasing any food item, it’s good to consider checking in the storage facilities like refrigerator and cupboards to ascertain that what you are buying is not already available. This will help reduce overbuying as well as impulse food purchase for upcoming meals. Ensure to buy only that food item you need and sure that it will be used. It’s good to buy in bulk if your capability allows but also considering planning will help you determine the extent of bulkiness to avoid food waste through spoilage.(Petronzio, 2015)

Storage

Storage is one of the major factors that greatly contribute to food waste. Improper storage leads to a large amount of food waste. According to many researchers conducted by Natural resource defense council, it’s evident that almost two-thirds of food waste are as a result of food spoilage. Many people lack the knowledge of methods of storing high perishable food commodities like fruits and vegetable as well as cooked foods. To avoid food waste through food spoilage, it’s recommendable to store items such as fruits and vegetable should store and provide with optimum room temperatures that support their long-lasting periods. Under storage, it’s recommendable to apply the following storage tips;

• Seek for the information on how to store certain types of food and vegetables to ensure that the stay fresh longer whether inside or outside a refrigerator.
• Always freeze and preserve all the surplus fruits and vegetables and more so when it’s a productive season for such fruits and vegetables.
• It’s recommendable to store different types of foods in different places. This is because, for instance, some foods like fruits produce certain natural gases in the process of their ripening. These gases trigger the spoilage of other nearby foods and vegetables. I.e., it’s good to store fruits like bananas, tomatoes, and apples differently from other fruits and vegetable as well as cooked foods.
• If you like to eat fruit at room temperature, but it should be stored in the refrigerator for maximum freshness, take what you’ll eat for the day out of the refrigerator in the morning.
• Storing of leftovers should be done in clear glass containers rather than an opaque one to ensure visibility. This will ensure that you won’t forget the food in that container or food dish.
• It’s recommendable to befriend your freezer or the refrigerator. This means that before going out for food shopping, it very important you check and cook what is available and can easily get spoiled leading to food waste.(Healthline group, 2008)

Food preparation

According to the food preparation module, it’s very recommendable that one prepares the perishable foods after shopping. Its good idea to freeze foods like bread, meat, and sliced fruits since they may not be edible immediately after their purchase. Prepare and cook perishable items, then freeze them for use throughout the month. It’s recommendable that people avoid food waste by eating all the edible part of all purchased commodities. (United states Government, 2008)

Results and outcome

With the above-discussed recommendation to prevent food wastage, the end results are almost the same. The main result is a reduction of cases of food spoilage which trigger food waste. When a food item is stored and preserved well, there are fewer cases of food waste. When planning is done, there are fewer cases of food wastage since the owner only buys what is necessary and in case of an excessive purchase, they are able to manage their meals schedule to avoid wasting the excessive foods.

Data analysis

From the data collected in the course of our research on the reduction of food waste, it was clear individuals ordered and purchased more food substances that they required. We used questionnaire form to get the data from Eurest staff members regarding how much food has been used for which occasion and how much of this food was actually consumed. We also made use of food waste designed an app that each member installed on the phone and could tract the food material they ordered online. From the data collected, many people were ordering a large amount of food material daily, and very few were recording back that their meals were over. This data is a clear indication that food waste was the common case for almost everyone. (Porpino , 2016)

References

Ducrot, P., Mejean, C., & Aroumougame, V. (2017). Meal planning. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 4(12), 14.

Healthline group. (2008, May 3). Healthline newsletter. Retrieved Sep 21, 2018, from Easy Ways to Reduce Your Food Waste: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/reduce-food-waste

Petronzio, M. (2015). practical ways you can reduce food waste and save money. Mashable journal of food and nutrition, 1-45.

Porpino , G. (2016). Household food waste behavior: avenues for future research. Brazilian agricultural cooperation , 1-8.

Porterfiled, A. (2016). Eliminating waste requires behavioral changes, but GMOs can help too. Genetic Literacy Project, 4-65.

United States Government. (2008, June 11). Reduce, reuse and recycle: Reducing Wasted Food At Home. The United States Environmental Protection Agency, p. 29.