This is a scary statistic I found in a book I was reading recently. A full quarter of food meant for human consumption in the US is then thrown out. How can we be wasting this much food!! First, it is a huge shame given how many people are starving in the world. Second, it is a huge environmental waste that all this food was grown, processed, delivered and stocked in stores, so tons of exhaust and fumes were created just for it to get thrown out!!

I am working really hard in our house to keep food from going bad - buying new containers for the fridge, marking expiration dates with big black markers etc. It is definitely getting better.

What are the challenges in your home?

I live in a duplex and go outside to the back porch and ask the couple behind me if they want something that I have no room in my freezer for or something my kid turned out not to like.

Since the father is now visiting once a week for an hour and lives with several people sharing an apt I give him canned items and cereal, etc.

I always take advantage of those donate food days through the post office where I will do veggies and soups.

Bonnie - it sounds like you need a bigger freezer if it's that full! Is there room for a little mini-freezer somewhere?

Bob has always wanted another freezer to bulk store and buy items, that it would save us a lot of money ...

We used to bulk shop and freeze a lot and I found that we actually wasted more food that way. Forget what was in the freezer, freezer burn, etc.

We plan for a couple of days and usually go to the market one or twice a week. Since I have started to shop this way our waste has been reduced dramatically especially with fruit and veggies. This doesn't work for everyone but we are fortunate that the grocery store is close by which allows us to shop this way.