Three Ways to Eat Environmentally for Less.

Reducing food waste, as with any waste is often difficult in that it requires, in some cases, major alterations in routines and habits. Food waste reduction in particular is often difficult because of a supply chain nature in meal purchases and preparation; food must be purchased at a market and then prepared into a meal that could then be eaten over a period of several days as leftovers. Because of this, it is often difficult to become more environmentally friendly without spending more money rather than less, as organic or " green " products typically enjoy premiums over mass-market alternatives.

To avoid this, there are several strategies that avoid these conflicts while gaining the benefits of more environmentally friendly meals; these include various methods to change habits towards local farmers markets and away from grocery stores and other more traditional venues.
This often requires eliminating old purchasing habits, such as regular and expensive trips to the grocery store for basic essential food items such as vegetables and bread products.

Creating a static weekly grocery list of foods that are more easily purchasable at farmers markets and similar venues ( such as raw tomatoes compared to canned ), makes for easier Elimination of these old habits while encouraging healthier eating habits. These lists should probably be formed seasonally to allow for weather appropriate meals and food.

Another method of reducing food waste is to prepare single, large meals and plan for their use as leftovers throughout the next several days; this increases the whole utilization of the meal by avoiding having several choices at any given time, which creates redundancy and therefore waste.

These large meals can also be stored in reusable containers, which further reduces waste and allows for portion control; this can be useful for leftovers, which further strengthen the use of single, larger meals. Over time, these strategies will reduce packaging and food waste by

eliminating redundancy and changing the source of the food ( from grocery stores to farmers market and bulk buys ), but a certain level food waste is inevitable; for the maximum environmental effect, the investment into a compost bin ( either a warm weather only outdoor unit or an all season indoor model depending on the climate ) will almost completely eliminate this however, with the subsequent effect of providing fertilizer for gardens and yards in general. Even without a compost bin many local farmers markets will provide general composting services; checking for details at your local market may provide the answer.