2019-04-01 Women's Health

86 / WOMEN’S HEALTH

good weekend grocery

haul. Just one look at your fully

stocked fridge has you patting

yourself on the back: a week of

fresh and delish dishes comin’

right up. But on Monday that

broccoli gets the boot from your

fam. Tuesday, you work later

than planned, leaving you too

tired for that new pesto-chicken

recipe. And Wednesday,

impromptu dinner plans with

friends easily wins over DIY

dining. Sound familiar?

We’ve all been there. Seriously—

all. Americans throw out more

t ha n 4 0 0 p ou nd s of fo o d p er p er son

annually, according to the Natural

Resources Defense Council

(NRDC). But it’s not just about the

neglected noshes. “When we toss

food, we waste natural resources—

energy, water, air, soil—all of which

are required for production,” says

Katherine Miller, vice president of

impact at the James Beard Founda-

tion. And, ugh, more cons: Leaving

g r ub to rot i n la nd fi l l s pro duc e s t he

sa me a mou nt of g re en hou se ga se s

as 37 million cars. Whoa.

This can also wreak havoc on

your wellness. Amped-up emis-

sions make it harder to breathe by

aggravating asthma. What’s more,

rising temps (courtesy of global

warming) can lead to stress, anxi-

ety, and depression and increase

your risk for cardiovascular issues

such as stroke.

The good news? There are ways

to prevent climate change. The even

better news? Reducing your food-

wa ste out put i s a n e a s y plac e to

start, says Miller. It’s totally doable

on any diet from allergen-free to

keto. So, let’s talk trash...

Focus on Storage

Of course you don’t mean to toss all

that food, but truth is, the majority

of food waste happens in homes

(not restaurants). Here’s step one:

Figure out how much you’re wast-

ing. “For one to two weeks, put all

the food you’d typically discard

into a bin in your fridge or on your

c ou nter. Then t a ke sto ck of what

you’ve collected to start making

better decisions,” says Emily Broad

Leib, director of the Harvard Law

School Food Law and Policy Clinic.

Next: Create “eat me first” areas for

e d ible s t hat ne e d to be u se d qu ick-

ly, like berries or dairy products—

no sha me i n label i ng a s a rem i nd-

er!—and practice reorganizing

your fridge post-shop. As you un-

pack your bags, move older goods

to the front so you grab ’em before

re c ent buy s. Th i s w i l l a l so m a ke it

easier to “shop your fridge” later—

i.e., see what you still have before

heading to the market, says scien-

t i st Da na Gu nder s, for merly of t he

NRDC and author of Waste-Free

Kitchen Handbook.

Dip

pea

rs in

equ

al p

arts

H 20

and

(^) lem
on ju
ice
to p
reve
nt (^) b
row
ning
.