Updates
Waste Not: Recap of Food Waste Prevention Week
April 23, 2025
Another successful Food Waste Prevention Week has come and gone! We hope you took some time to join our mission of being #FoodWasteHeros, but just in case you didn’t see, were unplugging or busy this week. . .here’s what you missed.
Monday kicked off our Food Waste Prevention Week with a quick quiz that tested you on your food waste knowledge. “Eat or Toss?” tests your abilities to recognize food that has gone bad vs. food that may just be a little… ugly. When the aesthetics of our food and life trump the actual value of nutrition and hunger, we can lose sight of the impacts of food waste. Keep testing your knowledge with more quizzes on EatOrToss.com, and follow @eatortoss on Instagram!
Tuesday, we took to social media and shared the importance of meal prepping and meal planning in reducing household food waste. Overstimulating food needs is one of the leading causes of household food waste, but you can use the Meal Planning Generator on savethefood.com/guestimator to reduce event and family meal waste!
Wednesday was all about date labels. One of the largest misconceptions of date labels is when it is necessary to throw out your food. “Best by” and “Sell by” dates don’t actually reflect when the food is not safe to eat, but rather when the food is past its “peak quality”. Using your senses to decide if a food is safe is the best way to reduce your unnecessary food waste. A quick smell or visual check can go a long way in detecting if your food is actually spoiled or just past its “peak”.
Thursday brought us some freezer and fridge storage tips to ensure your food can stay as fresh as possible for as long as possible! By freezing your leftovers, you not only ensure the longevity of your food but also ease the stress on weekly dinner plans. Organizing your shelves to prioritize leftovers and perishables first, such as putting your fresh fruit and veggies on the middle shelf in view instead of the crisper drawer, you can help prevent your food getting sucked into the void of the fridge and forgotten!
On Friday, we closed out the week by remixing and cooking with our leftovers. You can find more creative recipes and ideas on what to turn your leftovers into on our website at www.wedontwaste.org/cooking-with-we-dont-waste/!
With Saturday came the weekend and takeout meals! We know that life can get busy, from soccer practice to late-night meetings, sometimes a quick, hot-to-go meal is needed. When you plan out your weekly dinners and meal plans, make sure to leave a day free to account for any takeout meals. This way, no food will go to waste!
Every April, Food Waste Prevention Week is an encouragement and reminder for each of us to do our best to prevent household food waste. Through taking small steps and incorporating better habits into your shopping and cooking routine, food waste prevention will be a breeze!
Want to track your initiatives and actions in preventing food waste? Use our Food Waste Prevention Week Scorecard to see how many points you can accumulate. Tally up your score and share it to your social media with the hashtag #FoodPreventionWeek, snap a photo and tag us on Instagram or TikTok @wedontwaste! Let’s continue to work together to make a dent in the 40% of wasted food!
