POLL: How much food do you waste?

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I do a lot of cooking, on a fixed budget, for a family of four. When I need 1/2 and onion or celery I put the rest in an airtight container for the next day. When I buy vegetables I rarely leave any in the fridge long enough to rot.

My habits were not always this good. Several years ago I was pretty careless about what I did with the food in my house. A lot of vegetable went into the garbage along with a lot of leftovers. I can just imagine how I contributed to stinky landfill sites and how thoughtless I was about other places in the world where the people are not so fortunate.

I think I will make this a two part survey. The first will be a percentage of how many of the groceries you buy get used. The second part will be what is most likely to get thrown out. In the second part you may choose more than one answer.

Poll Information
This poll contains 2 question(s). 33 user(s) have voted.
You may not view the results of this poll without voting.

Poll Results: How much food do you waste? (33 votes.)

What persentage of food that you buy eventually ends up in the garbage? (Choose 1)
* 0%- 20% - 70% (23)
* 21% - 40% - 27% (9)
* 41% - 60% - 0% (0)
* 61%- 80% - 0% (0)
* 81% - 100% - 3% (1)

What food items do you often throw away. (Choose 7)
* Left too long in the crisper vegetables (rotten) - 55% (18)
* Old leftovers - 58% (19)
* Sour/ moldy milk products - 48% (16)
* Outdated condiments - 24% (8)
* Questionable meat - 39% (13)
* That thing with feet - 21% (7)
* Other - 21% (7)

 

I buy all my veggies etc fresh and organic, use them within 2-3 days and what I don't eat immediately I freeze. Most of it's stir-fry so I re-cook it after I defrost it naturally. the only things I really throw away are milk I don't use a lot. I never used to be this good but after 2 heart attacks and being diagnosed diabetic I have to be careful what I eat.

 

We grow a large garden, and sometimes can't use or give away all that we harvest. Some times, we don't get everything harvested even. Also, sometimes I save some leftovers but never get to eat them because the family is eating together...

 

When I was pregnant I developed gestational diabetes which is a temperary form of diabetes that goes away after the child is born. Having that made me realize how important it is to have a healthy diet. Since then our vegetable comsumption has doubled if not tripled. That is the main reason why I don't have rotten vegetable in my crisper.

 

We rarely eat veggies and what we do eat gets bought a day or 2 before I'm cooking with it. We aren't milk drinkers, either, so unless we're really into mac and cheese, that litre gets dumped.

 

The only item I ever really throw out is milk and that is usually when I have some left before I am going to leave on one of my business trips. I will usually either buy something and eat it within 48 hours or buy canned or frozen food that can be kept for a long period of time.

 

I eat almost all the food I buy The only things I throw out are all those outdated products.

 

I tend to throw away a lot of leftovers and things that have managed to sneak past their due date... milk I usually forget that I have, too... when it comes to vegetables, i usually manage to not to let anything go bad but sometimes I just don't realize I have, say, leftrovrer cucmber until it's too late.

I also had to check other - because i often end up tossing out something new that I have tried, but did not like. (be it new sort of fruit or a dish or something like that)

 

I hardly waste anything except for milk or juice that gets past the spoil date when there is only a little left in the bottom of the bottle.

 

Before September, I threw out a lot. Now I don't. I've eaten a burger that expired two months previously (although was frozen, so wasn't so bad) and a pizza with spots of blue on the cheese. In general I have no problem eating things two weeks gone, but it depends on what it is. Longer than that though, I'd probably have to throw it away.

 

Our food budget for three people is hovering around $100 per month. Very little gets wasted. The usual culprit is the leftovers everyone forgot was there...

 

Not much, next to nothing if it's for me or something I normally eat. I don't check if anything's going to expire soon, but whatever I buy or is bought for me, ends up eaten. If it's past the expiry date, I believe it's better to allow it to waste than to risk your health. Sometimes I don't notice for example a particular jar of fruit jam and then I'm sort of sad to let go (I don't eat from jam often but I like it). It's mostly things that come in jars that ever expire here, maybe except some herbs that are rarely used.

Oh, and I've drunk instant coffee expired for a year and opened for even longer. Had to wash it down with brandy.

 

We don't throw out outdated products just from looking at the date. Not until we cook it, taste it, and agree that it is spoiled - then we ditch it.

We're pretty good at cleaning up leftovers, so those are never thrown out.

As for preparing food... I'm not sure how much a typical family throws out, but I get the feeling we keep a lot more than the average. For example, mushroom stems. You never see those in restaurants because they are tough to chew, but we keep them. Or broccoli / cauliflower stalks. I've never seen Westerners take the stalks and dip them in their veggie dips... it seems like they only eat the flowery part. But we eat both.

 

I always us the brocolli stalks. I think they are the best part as long as the tough skin is removed. I also use the leaves on the tops of celery stalks when I am cooking with them. They are perfectly edible and add a lot of flavour to soups/chilli's/stews etc.

 

Well, I was raised by a father that grew up during the 'Great Depression'...so he was a total nag about wasting *anything* and some of it has rubbed off on me.

As for my fiance, she'll throw away an entire "flat" of strawberries if she sees mold on one of them.

 

My family has always been on a strict budget as well, but we probably throw away 0%-20% and rotting milk, but normally it is all gone before any thing can rot/ get moldy, but thats just me.

 

Unlike the rest of you, who all seem to be complete saints, I will admit that my family unfortunately wastes quite a lot of food. Our main wastage is:
- half finished loaves of bread that have gone mouldy
- cans and bottles of stuff that were bought specially for one recipe that only required half a container and we never used the rest
- leftovers in the fridge that nobody wanted
- stuff that stayed in the freezer for years
- potatoes that have gone all sprouty
- apples that have gone a bit floury
- half eaten baby dinners
- any bits of vegetables that look a bit brownish
- the half a jug of milk that is left over after you steam the milk to make a cappuccino.

It's a bit embarrassing when I look at that list.....

 

Wait, o.k. I'll admit to the sprouty potato thing. I have this huge problem finding a place in our house to properly store potatoes. Although I did use up the last of some slightly sprouty potatoes just tonight I seem to remember seeing a cardboard box in the basement with about 10 potato plants yet unplanted. I guess I should go and see about those before they get rotty.

I do throw away a lot of 1/2 eaten baby dinners too. You really can't keep those and I'm pretty sure nobody wants to share those leftovers.

 

I buy vegs about once a week. The only times we have had to throw any away without cooking is when they were forgotten at the back of the fridge or if the electricity failed for a long time.
Breads that get mouldy get thrown out and that has happened a few times.
I throw out curds that stay for too long. They stink enough as it is but after they have been in the fridge for a couple of months ...
Almost never save half an onion or anything. If anything, make more than necessary and then eat later.
Once cooked, stuff rarely goes waste. But once it starts tasting rancid there is no use trying to eat any.

 

I don't really waste much - it goes to the dog if it's inedible for humans