{"id":608,"date":"2021-12-03T20:31:56","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T20:31:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/?page_id=608"},"modified":"2026-07-21T19:09:55","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T19:09:55","slug":"food-waste-at-home-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/food-waste-at-home-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Food Waste at Home"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-732\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/667\/2022\/01\/1-300x128.png\" alt=\"The United States wastes 30-40% of the food it produces. Each person wastes more that 20 pounds of food per month.\" width=\"466\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/667\/2022\/01\/1-300x128.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/667\/2022\/01\/1-768x329.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/667\/2022\/01\/1.png 925w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 466px) 100vw, 466px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Making a few changes to your household can help reduce food waste.<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/food\/consumers\/tips-reduce-food-waste\">[2]<\/a><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Pre-plan your food list before going to the grocery store and stick to it! Only buy what you need. Be careful when buying in bulk and think before you buy.<\/li>\n<li>Purchase fruits and vegetables that have some physical imperfections, as these items often do not get purchased due to their look but are safe to consume!<\/li>\n<li>Store fruits and vegetables properly to make them last longer.<\/li>\n<li>Make sure your refrigerator is set to 40\u00b0 Fahrenheit or below and your freezer is set to 0\u00b0 Fahrenheit to prevent foods from spoiling faster than they should.<\/li>\n<li>Designate a space in the front of your fridge for foods that will be going bad sooner to ensure that you eat those foods first.<\/li>\n<li>Keep track of what you have stored in your kitchen and base your meals around what you have on hand.<\/li>\n<li>If you notice you have extra food, consider donating food items to your local food pantry or share food with family\/friends instead of throwing it away.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Click on the images below to learn more about how you can reduce your household food waste:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_720\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-720\" style=\"width: 233px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/moremealslesswaste.com\/files\/More-Meals-Less-Waste-Proper-Food-Storage-Guide.pdf\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-720 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/667\/2022\/01\/2022-01-14-16-233x300.png\" alt=\"Proper Food Storage\" width=\"233\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/667\/2022\/01\/2022-01-14-16-233x300.png 233w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/667\/2022\/01\/2022-01-14-16.png 655w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 233px) 100vw, 233px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-720\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000000\">Proper Food Storage<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_722\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-722\" style=\"width: 232px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a style=\"color: #000000\" href=\"https:\/\/moremealslesswaste.com\/files\/More-Meals-Less-Waste-Product-Shelf-Life-Guide.pdf\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-722 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/667\/2022\/01\/2022-01-14-17-232x300.png\" alt=\"Product Shelf-Life\" width=\"232\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/667\/2022\/01\/2022-01-14-17-232x300.png 232w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/667\/2022\/01\/2022-01-14-17.png 675w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-722\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000000\">Product Shelf-Life<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_723\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-723\" style=\"width: 233px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a style=\"color: #000000\" href=\"https:\/\/moremealslesswaste.com\/files\/More-Meals-Less-Waste-Decoding-Date-Codes.pdf\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-723 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/667\/2022\/01\/2022-01-14-18-233x300.png\" alt=\"Decoding Date Codes\" width=\"233\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/667\/2022\/01\/2022-01-14-18-233x300.png 233w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/667\/2022\/01\/2022-01-14-18.png 673w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 233px) 100vw, 233px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-723\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000000\">Decoding Date Codes<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.today.com\/tmrw\/4-ways-make-your-takeout-food-order-less-wasteful-t212828\">Check out these tips with ordering take out.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Check out additional resources from Rutgers Cooperative Extension:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/njaes.rutgers.edu\/fs1332\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-693\" style=\"color: #212529\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/667\/2022\/01\/2022-01-14-5-300x155.png\" alt=\"Reducing Food Waste at Home: Easy Every-Day Tips\" width=\"368\" height=\"190\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/667\/2022\/01\/2022-01-14-5-300x155.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/667\/2022\/01\/2022-01-14-5-768x397.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/667\/2022\/01\/2022-01-14-5.png 1007w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 368px) 100vw, 368px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/njaes.rutgers.edu\/wellness-wednesdays\/archive.php?2020-05-preventing-food-waste-at-home\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-691\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/667\/2022\/01\/2022-01-14-4-300x160.png\" alt=\"Preventing Food Waste at Home Webinar\" width=\"343\" height=\"183\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/667\/2022\/01\/2022-01-14-4-300x160.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/667\/2022\/01\/2022-01-14-4-1024x548.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/667\/2022\/01\/2022-01-14-4-768x411.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/667\/2022\/01\/2022-01-14-4.png 1453w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 343px) 100vw, 343px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><a style=\"color: #000000\" href=\"https:\/\/njaes.rutgers.edu\/wellness-wednesdays\/archive.php?2020-05-preventing-food-waste-at-home\">Preventing Food Waste at Home Webinar<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><a style=\"color: #000000\" href=\"https:\/\/njaes.rutgers.edu\/fs1332\/\">Reducing Food Waste at Home: Easy Every-Day Tips<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Making a few changes to your household can help reduce food waste.[2] Pre-plan your food list before going to the grocery store and stick to it! Only buy what &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/food-waste-at-home-2\/\" class=\"\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2056,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-custom.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-608","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Food Waste at Home - Cooperative Extension Food Waste Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/food-waste\/food-waste-at-home-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Food Waste at Home - Cooperative Extension Food Waste Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; Making a few changes to your household can help reduce food waste.[2] Pre-plan your food list before going to the grocery store and stick to it! 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