Good Things #15

A great article I read this morning:

Eat Local! is a Portland mantra. But cooking too much and throwing it away or inadvertently letting it go bad wipes out any carbon edge the food may have had from being grown locally even if it's composted. Minimizing food waste has a much larger benefit than switching from a distant supplier to a local supplier.

About 20 percent of a household's garbage is food. Throwing away cooked meat is about the worst thing for the carbon impact of food. It took energy to grow the chicken, transport it, cook it, and then there's the methane it creates in the landfill. To a lesser degree, same for fruits and vegetables. The very best thing a person can do is not waste food.

"Anyone who is wasting food should be very conscious," she said. "If I go to a restaurant, let's say they're going to put hashbrowns next to my eggs. If you don't think you're going to eat it, tell them not to put it on your plate. That has a huge impact."

So what does this mean in terms of greenhouse gas emissions? One way to look at it: For every ton of food waste that's composted rather than landfilled, at least a ton of CO2 equivalent is removed from the atmosphere. And that's a conservative estimate.

Clearly a real backyard composter would help my carbon footprint, but it won't take all my excess food. I can't compost meat, dairy, grease or bread if I want to keep rodents at bay.

Bottom line: I need to better plan meals to avoid leftovers. That means more precise grocery shopping and cooking smaller portions.