Let's Reduce Our Food Waste

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 LET'S REDUCE OUR FOOD WASTE

By Sofi Lenzi


   Introduction:

    Fueling my body with nutritious, whole foods is something that I'm super passionate about. Purchasing mainly organic, whole foods has presented a journey of trial and error in my household. For quite some time, it seemed that I couldn't escape the food waste; things that I didn't think would go bad quickly seemed to age overnight. I was losing money, losing food, and I knew this wasn't good for the environment. Therefore, I have created a website full of tips and tricks that I have learned that have helped me to almost alleviate any unnecessary food waste in my life! If I can help just one person create more food sustaining habits, then I am happy and proud. 

Food is something that we can all relate to. Money is something that we can all relate to. Therefore, food waste is definitely something that we can all relate to. Food waste is especially a massive issue in the United States that directly contributes to climate change and because it is something that we all experience, I think it's a great avenue to use to inspire people to live more sustainably. In my website, I purposefully talk about creating better food habits as a way to save money that then ultimately benefits the environment; by making beneficial changes for yourself and your wallet, you get to help the planet too! Woo! 

My project:

I created a simple website that talks about my personal experience with food waste. I added information about the reality of food waste in the United States. I also included lots of tips and tricks for reducing food waste. In addition, I included some knowledgable social media accounts that inspire me to try creative food recipes and continuously share valuable insight in regards to reducing food waste and ultimately, living a more sustainable life.

I shared the link to my website on my personal Instagram story as well as my vegan foodie Instagram story. Around 400 people viewed my story on each account! I found the most support on my vegan Instagram, which makes sense because my audience is very food centric on that platform. I had people reaching out to me, asking questions about my journey of reducing food waste. I made sure to emphasize that this is a journey with no destination! I want to continuously improve on my food habits and utilization of various food items; any baby steps towards reducing food waste is a victory. 

I work at Brick Street Farms which is a local hydroponic farm. Reducing food waste is a huge aspect of Brick Street's mission and many of their loyal customers are passionate about doing the same! We send out a weekly newsletter with information about the farm and I was lucky enough to include my website within one of the newsletters to reach a different audience. I had customers thanking me for sharing the website while I was working which was a really rewarding feeling!

Screenshot from newsletter: 



Results:

I would definitely say that sharing my website was a success. I reached a variety of different people, people I know and people that I didn't know. I think that college students really valued my website because my information was very much framed as an opportunity to save money which we can all relate to.

Sources:

Kaplan, S. (2021, March 01). A third of all food in the U.S. gets wasted. fixing that could help fight
    climate change.

ReFED (2021). ReFED's Insight Engine: Your source for data and solutions to reduce food waste.

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