Food scraps and food-soiled paper are the largest single item in our waste stream — making up approximately 35% of what we throw away in Alameda County.
Food is too essential to throw away. By making small shifts in how we shop, prepare and store food, we can toss less, eat well, save money, and keep the valuable resources used to produce and distribute food from going to waste.
Alameda Backyard Growers is committed to reducing food waste through Project Pick, which has sent over 11 tons of otherwise wasted fruit to the Alameda Food Bank. Now we’re taking the next step, and tackling food waste in our own kitchens.
Alameda Backyard Growers has received a Community Outreach Grant from StopWaste.org to help our members learn how to reduce the amount of food we’re throwing away. Starting this May, we will be participating in the Stop Food Waste Challenge. We will start by conducting a brief refrigerator audit to diagnose potential problem areas in our own homes. The following six weeks, we will implement simple food saving tools (such as a shopping list or produce storage guide) while keeping a journal of our experiences. The Challenge will conclude with another fridge audit to assess any improvement, and an opportunity to share our experiences with the greater community at a culminating event.
The third wave of our stop food waste program is beginning soon! Save the date September 17, 7:00 p.m., for the opening meeting!
If you’d like to take action in your own home by joining the Stop Food Waste Challenge, please contact Holly Johnson at abgfoodwaste@gmail.com. To learn more about the issue of food waste and for simple tips and tools to reduce wasted food, visit StopWaste.org.