The unappetizing truth about your grocery spending

Maybe we can do a better job of reducing food waste if we start rebranding it as a waste of money.

A recent article by food industry expert Sylvain Charlebois says the average consumer throws away an estimated 170 kilograms of food a year, which is getting into the zone of what a piano weighs. Some of this waste is out of our hands – planned meals don’t come together and fresh food goes bad in the fridge as a result. But we’re also buying too much at the grocery store. That seems obvious.

A money-saving suggestion for 2020: Spend a couple of weeks monitoring how much food you throw out and then adjust your weekly buying and cooking. If leftovers aren’t getting eaten, cook less. If fruits and vegetables are decaying in your fridge, buy less. If you often throw out mouldy bread, try freezing half a loaf before it gets stale.

A lot of us are too busy to be heading off to the supermarket every couple of days to top up on groceries. But running out of one of two things can force you to be resourceful in using what’s at hand. Throw out less, save more.