Column: Help solve food waste, defeat insecurity

Attaining our state’s food sustainability goals should be more than just increasing local food production here. We should also be ensuring our current food supply doesn’t go to waste.

In Hawaii, nearly one quarter of all food and beverage purchases end up in the trash. On Oahu, this equates to about 425 pounds of food waste per household per year. That’s 121,741,250 pounds of food that gets thrown away in a year just on Oahu alone. And that includes just residential waste. Food is wasted across the supply chain — at farms, manufacturers, retailers, restaurants and in our homes — and solutions need to be prioritized to prevent food from being wasted in the first place.

April is Food Waste Awareness Month, and the ideal time for us to reflect on how we can minimize food waste as a daily practice. Did you know that most food waste ends up in landfills or incinerators? Not only is this bad for the environment and a contributing factor in climate change, but in many cases, it is wholesome, edible food that could instead be redistributed to feed the hungry. Think about this: We are disposing of millions of pounds of food while at the same time, 1 in 6 Hawaii residents is struggling to provide enough food for their families. This number will undoubtedly grow as inflation hits a 40-year high and food costs continue to rise. We all need to be aware that it is going to be harder and harder for those on the cusp to afford food.

So, what can we do as a community? We can all start with baby steps:

>> Collect your unspoiled, healthy food and donate it. Start by going through your pantry and identifying foods you don’t expect to eat, or with “best by” dates in the recent past or coming up soon. With hurricane season coming up, now is the perfect time to clean out and restock your preparedness kits.

>> Make the most of the food you purchase — you can use meat bones or vegetable scraps to make a broth. I keep a gallon Ziploc bag in my freezer with vegetable scraps and bones and make a pot of homemade broth about once a month, every time it fills up. You can also freeze your food to make it last longer — unopened meats, milk, and bread all freeze well — and save your leftovers for another meal.

>> Avoid buying too much food by making a shopping list or taking a couple of shorter trips to the grocery store each week.

At Hawaii Foodbank, we rescue approximately 11 million pounds of food each year thanks to forward-thinking retailers, wholesalers and farmers who are doing their part to reduce food waste. We have a stringent process in place for inspecting all donated food to ensure it is safe for human consumption before it is distributed through our network of partner agencies. The rest is either composted or donated to pig farmers as feed.

Consumers are also welcome to donate food items beyond nonperishables. We accept dairy products, fresh and frozen meat and fish, fresh produce, baked goods, refrigerated prepackaged foods and more as long as it meets certain guidelines. Additional information can be found on our website at HawaiiFoodbank.org.

By donating food, we’re feeding people, supporting local communities, and saving all the resources that went into producing that food from going to waste. In making a commitment to ourselves, our neighbors and our planet to no longer waste food, we can all do our part in stopping food waste.