Roughly a third of all food is lost or wasted from the U.S. food supply each year and, with its big holiday meal as the centerpiece, Thanksgiving can be one of the most wasteful days of the year, according to experts.
With the price of sweet potatoes, cranberries, potatoes and wine up compared with last year, shoppers may want to carefully consider how much to make for the holiday. Minimizing food waste also keeps food out of landfills, cutting down on emissions of methane — a powerful greenhouse gas.
“The food on your table is the result of many resources,” said Dr. Jean Buzby, liaison for food loss and waste at the United States Department of Agriculture. “Fresh water, energy, land and labor are used to create, process, transport, store, market and prepare that food. Do what you can to keep your food out of landfills so that all those resources are not wasted.”
How bad is food waste on Thanksgiving
About 200 million pounds of turkey are thrown out over the Thanksgiving holiday week, according to estimates from the Natural Resources Defense Council. Throwing out all that turkey also means the resources used to produce it are being wasted.
According to NRDC estimates, producing just one pound of turkey meat uses 520 gallons of water —the equivalent of seven bathtubs full of water. And greenhouse gas emissions from a pound of turkey are equivalent to those from burning a half gallon of gasoline.
“While no one sets out to be wasteful on Thanksgiving, nor throughout the year, people want to be celebratory and enjoy a special meal,” Natural Resources Defense Council expert Anya Obrez said. “Most of us have deep-rooted associations between food on the table and our ability to care for our loved ones, and so we go a little overboard to ensure we won’t run out of food. On top of that, cooking for a large party can be difficult!”
How to minimize food waste while preparing for Thanksgiving
Ahead of the holiday, the NRDC recommends figuring out exactly how much to prepare. The organization has a tool to help: people can plug in the number of guests and how much of an eater those guests are. The next step is selecting how many meals of leftovers you want and the type of meal being prepared. Types of food can also be added to your menu in the tool to get an estimate of how much to buy and cook.
It’s also important to make a grocery list, said Buzby. Research shows it can help shoppers avoid impulse buying.
While cooking, experts advise saving peels and scraps for future broths or creative snacks, like potato skin chips.
Once everyone is at the table, Obrez suggests serving smaller portions.
“If your guests tend to have a lot left on their plates at the end of the meal, use smaller plates for serving,” she said. “That way, when guests pile food on their plates, the amount they’ve got is more closely aligned with what they will actually eat. If anyone is still hungry after the first pass, they can always go back for seconds —or thirds.”
Making the most of your Thanksgiving leftovers
Thanksgiving hosts staring at dishes of leftover turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and more should get excited about leftovers, Buzby said. Her favorite post-Thanksgiving treat is fritters her mom made with leftover mashed potatoes.
She suggests making bread pudding with extra bread, use bones or leftover meat for stock or chili, and prepare French toast with extra buttermilk or cream.
“Think about what your family did to save food from being wasted and add your own touch of creativity,” Buzby said.
To extend shelf life, Obrez suggests freezing before tossing.
“Freezing food is like hitting a pause button; nearly anything can be frozen and rediscovered for a dark winter weeknight when you don’t have the energy to cook something from scratch,” Obrez said.
Sending food home with guests is also an option, as is making a donation.
