Grocery Shopping Tips To Help Buy What You Need and Avoid Food Waste

According to Statista, Americans averaged 1.6 grocery shopping trips per week in 2022. Additionally, the majority (95%) will cook a meal at home at least once a week. Although we will cook at home, we are prone to cook enough to create leftovers. Unfortunately, these leftovers usually end up in the trash, along with other foods with a limited shelf-life. Avoiding food waste can begin with your grocery shopping trip. Here are a few tips to help you stay on track when grocery shopping:

1. Be sure to eat something before you go grocery shopping. You are more likely to overconsume in the grocery store when you are hungry.
   
2. Keep a running grocery list. Make sure to include the quantity needed. Consider which and how many per item you or your family actually eat on a weekly basis. Which items do you regularly replenish? Which items linger in your fridge? It’s great to want your kids to eat more apples, but if they aren’t tempted, it’s a waste to continue to buy that item. Always check your fridge and pantry when readying your list. At a minimum, your grocery list should be based on the items you are using regularly. If you want to add to your list, ask yourself who is eating the item or how will this item be used? If you can’t put your finger on an answer, it may not be a good addition. Download the EPA’s Smart Shopping guide to get started, https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-02/documents/smart_shopping_ftgtw_2_1_2016_pubnumberadded_508_v2.pdf
   
3. How many people are you cooking for? Try meal planning. Planning a few meals each week will help you to look at who will be home for breakfast, lunch, or dinner in order to purchase a list of ingredients you will actually use.
   
4. Be an educated consumer. Learn more about the food longevity, date labels and what it all means. Most date labels are not based on science. Those labels are created by the manufacturer and are more about taste and quality than about spoilage and risk. To learn more, check out this article from the USDA on what to consider before tossing food, https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2013/06/27/you-toss-food-wait-check-it-out and this article about date labels from the FDA, https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/confused-date-labels-packaged-foods.
   
5. If you still find yourself with a few leftovers or uneaten items, make use of your local food waste programs. You can sign up for the curbside food scrap collection which allows you to place food scraps out in designated containers once a week. For more information, visit https://www.collegeparkmd.gov/foodscraps.