It's hard to admit — but if the recent weather is any indication — the holidays are here and Thanksgiving is upon us. 

On the weekend before we stuff turkeys and our bellies, meal planning and grocery shopping are on many to-do lists. That brings up questions: How many sides will there be? Rolls or cornbread? How big of a turkey is needed? 

But there is one other important question to keep in mind: How can I reduce food waste?

Food waste is a massive problem in the U.S. and across the world, particularly around Thanksgiving and the holiday season.

Americans threw out the equivalent of 6 million turkeys — worth about $293 million — over Thanksgiving last year, according to environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council. That doesn't even include all the casseroles and stuffing. 

This is not just a holiday problem. On average, 52 million tons of food ends up in our landfills each year and another 10 million tons is discarded at the farm, according to ReFED, a national nonprofit committed to reducing food waste. That means American consumers, farms and businesses spend $218 billion annually to grow, process and then dispose of food that is never eaten.

Meanwhile, one in six Hoosiers and one in five Marion County residents lack reliable access to a sufficient amount of affordable food.

Among other concerns: All that food waste takes up serious landfill space and produces methane, a greenhouse gas that is more than 20 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in our atmosphere.

So it's pretty clear, experts say, that it is critical Americans reduce their food waste.  Thanksgiving planning and shopping seems an excellent place to start. 

Don't overcook: Try to get as accurate a head count as possible for the big day and find out what dishes people are craving — meaning you can leave behind some of those sides that may be tradition, but that no one eats. Also, the National Resources Defense Council has a tool called the Guestimator that lets you input the number of guests, whether they are big, small or average eaters, what dishes you plan to make and how many leftovers you want. Then the calculator does its number crunching and portions out how much of each you should have. 

Shop your fridge: As you make your shopping list and before going to the store, make sure that you check out what you have in your fridge and pantry first so that you don't double buy something you already have an open container of, or that's sitting in the veggie drawer.

Buy in bulk: For some recipes and dishes, you may only need and small amount of an ingredient like a spice or some nuts or dried fruit, etc. If not an item that you use frequently or plan to use in another dish, check out a grocery store where you can buy in bulk and just get the specific amount that you need. 

Check the dates: The dates stamped and printed on much of our food at the grocery store might as well be another language. But the various terms such as "sell by," "best by" and "use by" all mean different things, and rarely do they mean the product is inedible after that date. "Sell by," for example, is for retailers and not meant for the consumer while "best by" is just the time of peak quality and "use by" again speaks more to the quality of the food and does not mean eating it after will make you sick. Your senses are a much better test of an item's freshness.

Show some love: A lot of fruits and veggies never even make it off the shelves because they have a small bruise, a bump on the skin or an unusual shape. None of those things, however, make the produce less delicious. So show some love to the Charlie Brown Christmas trees of the produce aisles and keep those items from being tossed at the store. 

Call IndyStar reporter Sarah Bowman at 317-444-6129 or email at Follow her on Twitter and Facebook: @IndyStarSarah. Connect with IndyStar’s environmental reporters: Join The Scrub on Facebook.


Read or Share this story: