Here at Ridgewood Moving Services (Ridgewood Moving), we’re huge supporters of the nonprofit organization known as Move for Hunger. This is an organization that is dedicated to ending world hunger by filling food banks with nonperishable food items. Move for Hunger obtains this food by partnering with moving companies, like us, that have clients that have food they no longer need. If they are willing to donate their nonperishable food, the moving company can then use their trucks to transport the food to Move for Hunger or any local food banks.

Making food donations to is one way to make a difference in the world, but Lauren Hawkins from Move For Hunger found that you can prevent food waste even in your own home! There are simple things that everyone can do to reduce food waste, as Lauren outlined on her blog post, and we would like to share this information with everyone here. If you are interested in learning more, you can read the original blog post here. Or, if you want to learn more about Move For Hunger itself, then you can visit its website here. Without further ado, here are Lauren’s tips for reducing food waste:

1. Plan, plan, plan!
It all starts with having a solid meal plan for the week. Stick to the plan! Impulse buying will not only put you potentially over your budget for that week’s groceries, but that bag of chips you had to have will also sit in your pantry until it expires. You will save money if you keep to the grocery list and only buy what you need. If you find that it’s faster and easier to have technology organize your grocery list for you, here are 7 easy-to-use apps that really deliver.

2. Use the First in, First Out Rule.
This tip can really make a difference in the way that your entire kitchen works, and it’s easy to use! While unloading your groceries, quickly check the item’s expiration date. Organize your fridge/freezer/pantry according to your groceries’ expiration dates. Put the newer food in the back, and place older groceries in the front. Better yet, once you have taken inventory of all of the older foods, you can plan meals for that week around the items that are closest to their expiration date so that none of it goes to waste! To take it a step further, you could even designate a day of the week to eating only leftover food in your fridge or other foods in your pantry that you know you’ve had for a long time.

Photo Credit: Move For Hunger

Photo Credit: Move For Hunger

3. Donate/Share!
When you look in your pantry for a yummy snack, have you ever thought, “There is nothing to eat in here!” even though your pantry is stocked with plenty of food? It’s probably the result of over-shopping and impulse buys. You don’t want to throw it out since most of it still hasn’t expired, so what can you do?…Donate! Find out where your local food bank is located (if you don’t already know), and swing by the next time you’re in that area running errands. This way you don’t have to waste any food by throwing it in the trash, and someone in your town who is in need of a meal is now able to get one! Have some cookies that you baked three days ago that your family can’t finish? No problem! Take them to work and tell anyone who wants one that they can have as many as they like. And, of course, don’t forget to donate your food when you move!

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