This is one of the saddest articles I’ve read in a long time: The World Wastes Half its Food.  And much of it due to blemishes or imperfections that the healthiest, heritage, organically-grown food will be more prone to … while the snack cakes live on.

As consumers, we are either part of the solution, or part of the problem.  What we can do:

• Teach the market not to throw away viable food : insist on organically grown fruits and vegetables, and accept the imperfections that come with that. The worm in the tip of the corn, the dark spot on a banana, or the overripe leaves on the outside of a cabbage are normal and easy to strip away.  Accepting this small investment of time will help teach producers and grocers not to throw away these items (and drive prices up to cover the waste).
• Be deliberate in your own shopping choices: think of the effort and work that went behind the vegetables you are buying, and the lives invested in the meat items.  Refuse to squander this – buy only what you can eat or store, and if you wind up with a surplus, invite a friend to share dinner, or pass the ingredients to a local food bank before they spoil.
• Does your CSA or garden sometimes overwhelm even your hungry family? Invest in freezer space and dehydrating tools and challenge yourself to live with as little waste as possible.  Fruits can be made into fruit leathers, veggies into great soups for office lunches, and more.

Have other ideas?  Please comment below and share them … let’s work together to reduce this terrible waste!