When my siblings and I sat down to dinner as kids, Mom would say, “Take what you want, but eat what you take.”
Whatever was left was stored for later. A chicken and rice dish could be incorporated into a soup or stew or it might be passed on to a needy family. Mom was known for her extreme thriftiness. To her every bit of food counted. Our Uncle Carl often told how Mom, after using a ham bone that had flavored our bean soup, loaned it to a neighbor saying, “When you’ve made your soup, send the bone back. I’ll make another pot of soup.”
Old-fashioned customs like cleaning your plate, saving leftovers for later and sharing food were winning strategies that are mostly ignored today. Despite the fact that San Mateo County has one of the best records in California of reducing food waste, there is reason to do much more. Allowing edible food to be thrown away prevents us from feeding hungry neighbors, affects our economy and pollutes our air with greenhouse gases.
Many agencies, businesses and individuals generate food waste: restaurants, schools, hospitals and senior homes to name a few. Those of us who cook at home and bring leftovers after eating at restaurants also play a major role. It is up to all of us in our own sphere of influence to do what we can to help mitigate the problem.
The environmental costs of food waste are huge. Water, land, energy and labor are squandered in the process. When food ends up in landfills, it decomposes and releases methane, a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide, which can be harmful to our health. The biggest contributors to greenhouse gases are food consumption — particularly animal-derived foods — and food waste.
For most of this year, the nonprofit Sustainable San Mateo County has been compiling its 2025 Indicators Report on food waste and the emissions released in San Mateo County. The report will be presented at a free public meeting 9-11 a.m. Oct. 1 at the Sobrato Center in Redwood Shores.
The report looks at how our county can reduce the climate impact by preventing food waste, composting organics and encouraging plant-based food choices. For this report SSMC conducted interviews with city staff and community agencies, gathered insights from survey respondents and heard from city leaders, nonprofit partners and technical experts at an event on the topic. The report reveals the price we pay for food waste while citing some hopeful activities taking place in San Mateo County.
Here are several takeaways:
• 34% of the food we throw away in San Mateo County is edible.
• Nearly 1 in 4 county residents is hungry or at risk of hunger. This ratio is much higher than in the nation as a whole.
• Organic waste (food, especially animal-derived food, and yard waste) in the landfill is the chief cause of methane emissions, which can be harmful to our health.
We must do our share to decrease food waste. Here are suggestions for individuals and families:
1). Plan meals and shop with a list of needs.
2). Store food properly to ensure freshness.
3). Utilize leftovers in creative ways.
4). Compost food scraps to return nutrients to the soil. Do not put in the trash.
5). At restaurants, order only what you can eat now or will eat later.
6). Research places where edible food can be donated.
Additionally, please support your city in its efforts to develop and implement policies to decrease food waste. Read city council meeting agendas to learn of pertinent topics, write emails and share your ideas at a city council meeting.
Georgi LaBerge is a home economist, former Redwood City mayor and Sustainable San Mateo County board member.
(1) comment
I also grew up in a family that never wasted any food. Everything was somehow eaten or my Mom would find a way to make any leftovers a delicacy. I was born just prior to the hunger winter in The Netherlands of 1944-1945 when de Nazi occupiers withheld food supplies to punish the Dutch for celebrating the eventual collapse of the Nazi terror. In order to keep the Dutch from starving, Eisenhower's staff convinced the Nazis to let the USAAF drop food packages over the Western provinces of the Netherlands from their B-17 bombers. While people had literally starved to death in the streets of my home town Leiden until then, my Dad told us that after the parachuted food supplies became abundant, food waste was everywhere in the surrounding fields and streets. It seems that humans have short memories and apparently do not appreciate what it takes to grow and distribute food. To this day, we don't waste any food in our household and I believe our children follow our example. It takes education so the LTE by the authors may open some eyes.
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