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Do you ever feel like you spend so much time making a grocery list and then spend time at the grocery store just for most of the food you buy to go to waste?

Do you end up not making the meals you thought you would, or do you buy random ingredients that don’t add up to make any meals? Reducing food waste is just one of the many benefits of meal planning! 

It can be easy to get carried away with grocery shopping when you don’t make a plan for what to do with the groceries and ingredients you buy when you get home. 

We often get carried away with buying things we don’t need that eventually end up going bad. 

An easy fix to wasting so much food is to start a monthly or weekly meal plan. A meal plan is a great way to know what you should buy at the store because you have an idea of what you want to do with the food you’re buying.

It leads to less food waste and less money spent in the long run. A win-win!

What is Meal Planning?

Meal planning is creating a plan for the meals you will have for each day of the week. You can plan for however many days at a time that you would like. I usually plan for a few weeks at a time and buy groceries once a week for the meals in the upcoming week. Some people plan breakfast, lunch, and dinner for each day of the week. I usually plan only for dinner and write out options for breakfast and lunch so we know what’s available to us.  

Grab a meal-planning template or a calendar like the one below to get started with planning your meals!

How Should I Decide What to Put on My Meal Plan?

I always start with planning around ingredients that we have at home, then I add things we like to eat, and then add some new recipes in the mix.

Adding new recipes to my meal plan is always fun! I usually try to add two or three new recipes each month so that we don’t get tired of eating the same things all the time. It’s fun to try new things!

It’s also a good idea to add meals based on ingredients that you already have at home. By doing this, it will help to cut down on food waste and food shopping.

You can add whatever recipes you’d like to on your meal plan. I try to be smart and plan meals around ingredients I already have, easy recipes, and things my husband and I like to eat.  

Related Post: The Benefits of Meal Planning and How it Can Simplify Your Life

What is Food Waste?

Food waste can be divided into two categories: waste and loss. Food loss is when food goes bad. It can be fresh produce that has gone bad or other food items past their expiration date.

Food waste is when food has been thrown out or discarded.

When I think of food waste, I think of throwing out uneaten food from dinner or throwing out food scraps from chopping up vegetables. 

To learn more about food waste and loss, visit this website.

How Does Food Waste Have an Environmental Impact?

Food waste is more than just throwing out food that has gone bad or unused. When you think of all the resources that went into making the food, you realize exactly how much has been wasted by throwing it out. 

Food waste affects the environment because it is a waste of natural resources, contributes to climate change and degradation of land, and harms biodiversity. 

Creating food waste may seem small, but creating food waste on a daily basis makes the impact of food waste much greater.

Food waste creates a huge environmental footprint that needs to be reduced. 

To have a more positive impact on the environment, we need to be mindful of the food we buy, how we use it, and how much of it becomes waste. 

Making small changes can make a big difference. 

Related Post: How to Ditch and Switch to All-Natural Products Easily

How Can Meal Planning Help Reduce Food Waste?

Meal planning is a great place to start when wanting to cut down on the amount of food waste you are creating. There are several ways it can help to reduce food waste!

1. Produce Doesn’t Go Bad

Do you love to buy produce or fresh herbs to use in meals throughout the week? Do you end up throwing the majority of it away because you didn’t use it like you planned? Fresh fruits and vegetables can go bad before we decide what to cook them with, but by having a meal plan, you will already know what to use them for! 

Whether you are trying to eat healthy meals, or you just enjoy cooking with vegetables and eating fruits, a meal plan can help cut down on the waste created.

With a meal plan, you will only buy the fruits and vegetables you need for the meals you have planned. 

Also learning how to store food properly will help prolong the shelf life of your fruits and vegetables. 

2. Plan meals Around Ingredients at Home

One of the best ways to keep food at home from going bad is to make your meal plan around those options. 

We all have food and ingredients in our freezers, pantry, and cabinets that can be used for our meal plan. 

It’s important to use the food we have at home so that it doesn’t get wasted. 

I like to look through the options I have at home to add to my meal plan before adding meals that I need to shop for. 

​Using food we already have at home will help cut down on food waste as well as cut down on our grocery shopping bills!

3. You Have a Plan for the Shopping List

Nothing feels better or keeps you on track like having a plan for something. 

Having a plan for your shopping list means that you should only buy food that you have on your weekly meals (besides snacks and other foods your family will eat). 

It will keep you from buying extra food that you can’t make any meals with. 

Before I used to meal plan, I would buy random food and then stress out about meals to make later in the week because I wouldn’t have all the ingredients to make the meals that I wanted. 

This was due to me not having a plan for the food I was buying.  

Having a plan for your shopping list will keep food from going bad before you use it. 

4. Use Products Before the Expiration Dates

By using ingredients and food in your pantry, freezer, or cabinets, you can be sure to use products before their expiration date!

I hate nothing more than going through my food inventory and having to throw out things because they are expired and have gone bad. 

Find creative ways to use some of the food you have on hand if you don’t have a recipe to use it in. Also, be sure to use leftovers! Whether for lunch the next day or find another meal they would compliment. 

By using food before the expiration date, you are creating less waste! 

Related Post: 9 Easy Ways to Make Time in the Kitchen Fun

What to do with Food Waste?

Food waste like vegetable scraps and overripe fruit is inevitable. We all create food waste from time to time and that’s okay! We just need to learn how to throw out food responsibly.

So, what should you do with food waste to dispose of it properly? 

1. Use a Compost Bin

A compost bin is one of the best things I have bought for my kitchen. I love to put fruit and vegetable scraps in the compost knowing that it will break down and I will be able to use it to fertilize my garden.

This is the most sustainable way to dispose of food scraps. Learning the basics of what you can and cannot compost is important. 

2. Use the Garbage Disposal

Using the garbage disposal is better than throwing food in the trash. Using the garbage disposal keeps food from going to the landfill. 

Be sure to learn more about how your water treatment plant handles the waste from garbage disposals since the food is broken down and sent out through the pipes in your home.

Do you love to be in the kitchen cooking?

Does it drive you crazy having to look up conversions or try to figure them out on your own?

This kitchen conversions chart will come in handy! Get your free printable below. 

​If you haven’t started meal planning yet, do you plan to start it now? It’s a great way to cut down on food waste and can even save you some money along the way!

What are your favorite meals to add to the plan? I would love to know! I am always looking for new meals to try. 

Until next time,

Catherine