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food waste

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How grocery chain Kroger aims to create hunger-free communities by 2025

Since 2018, the Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation has directed more than $48 million toward the huge amount of food thrown away needlessly in the US.

Kroger, one of the country's largest grocery store chains, is addressing food waste.

It’s no secret that food waste is doing a number on both our wallets and our planet. Food is the single largest contributor to landfills. Plus, producing all of that wasted food uses more than 20% of the U.S. supply of freshwater, and it creates as much greenhouse gas emissions as 33 million passenger cars.

As if all this weren’t bad enough, it’s awful (and absurd, really) to think that while this surplus of food literally rots, families go hungry.

Many people are taking it upon themselves to offset this issue, whether that’s incorporating everyday lifestyle changes or hosting pop-up dinners for those dealing with food insecurity. While these individual efforts are great, corporations also need to implement solutions. This is especially true considering U.S. retail stores generate about 16 billion pounds of food waste every year.

Kroger, one of the largest grocery chains in the country, established its Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation back in 2018 with a simple mission in mind: to create communities free from hunger and waste by 2025.

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Ad Council - Food Waste

The next time you go grocery shopping, throw about 40% of your food in the trash on your way out.

If that sounds a little ridiculous, you're right — it is. But it also puts the issue of food waste into perspective. In the U.S., that's how much of our food goes uneaten and most of it is sent straight to the landfill.

When you're tossing those wilted veggies into the trash at the end of the week, you may as well be throwing dollar bills in there as well. And that's just the tip of the iceberg lettuce (sorry, I had to). Not only does food waste affect your bottom line — it has an enormous environmental impact, too.

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One simple ask led to this nonprofit saving 7 million pounds of food for people in need.

'We knew nothing about charities; we just saw all this food getting left behind.'

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State Farm

When you were moving out of your college dorm, do you remember how much food you ended up throwing away?

Those unopened packages of ramen noodles, mini boxes of cereal, and buttered popcorn packs were all perfectly good food — and they went to waste just because you knew you wouldn't be eating them.

If there had been an easily accessible collection box for those items, you probably would've donated them instead, right?

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Gates Foundation: The Story of Food

For anyone pledging to "eat better" in 2017, Oxfam America has an idea.

The organization joined forces with the brilliant minds behind some of the country's most innovative restaurants to create a recipe series called Eat for Good.

Food is the best.  

In Eat for Good, Oxfam America compiled some tasty recipe ideas to show how much good you can do with your food. And not just for yourself — for the world.

By making minor tweaks to how we buy, cook, and eat, we can make a big difference for our planet and millions of people in it. Here are a few ideas to get you going (used with Oxfam's permission):

1. Utilize your leftovers — and reduce food waste — with this skillet chilaquiles dish. Delicious and easy!

Image via iStock.

We throw away so much food, it's embarrassing. Before tossing your leftover vegetables, beans, meat, or stale chips into the trash, why not turn them into dinner instead?

Recipe here.

2. Cut down on energy use — and wasted water — with this sweet pear and apple salad.

Image via iStock.

Energy-saving tip: When the water starts to boil, reduce the heat and cover the pan with a lid to waste less energy and water. It's good practice for future meals, too!

Recipe here.

3. Support global farmers with this chickpea rice pilaf.

Image via iStock.

Rice is a staple crop produced by millions of farmers around the world, but only a small percentage of what we spend on rice — if any of it — actually goes back to them. To counteract this, look for products and brands that ensure small-scale food producers get their fair share when you're out shopping.

Recipe here.

4. Satisfy your sweet tooth AND help small farmers with an espresso chocolate chip angel food cake.

Image via iStock.

90% of cocoa comes from small farms, so when buying chocolate for recipes, look for a brand that guarantees farmers a fair price.

Recipe here.

5. Save energy (and cleanup time) with this one-pot kale and tomato stew.

Image via iStock.

Dirty dishes begone! This entire meal is prepared using one pot, which makes cleanup a breeze and requires a lot less energy. Little by little, save on that energy bill (and reduce your energy use!).

Recipe here.

6. Go meatless for the night with this squash blossom risotto — you won't even miss the meat!

Image (cropped) via Maggie McCain/Flickr.

Did you know it take nearly 2,000 gallons of water just to produce just one pound of meat? Yowza. Cutting back on your meat consumption saves a lot of water and reduces harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

Recipe here.

7. Forget trashing those carrot tops! Turn them into a pesto instead.

Image (cropped) via Marc Falardeau/Flickr.

Your wallet and the environment will thank you when you turn would-be trash into your next pesto sauce.

Recipe here.

Find even more recipes from Oxfam's series here.

In our world of 7 billion people, enough food is produced every day to feed 10 billion. Still, 795 million people are undernourished.

This is a lopsided problem that we can all help to fix.

The issues of global hunger and poverty are central to our ability to move forward as a world. Whether you aim to waste less food, reduce energy use, buy fair-trade-certified products, or only shop for food that's in season, little steps add up in ensuring global farmers are given their fair share, holding the food industry to a higher ethical standard, and protecting the planet for future generations.

Our decisions as consumers make an impact. In this new year, try to do your part in being extra thoughtful in your food decisions. Isn't it great to know that you can have your cake — and eat it, too — for a better future?

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