Reduce home food waste
You can prevent food waste at home to save money and help the environment.
Easy ways to prevent wasted food
Save money and help the environment
How you can limit wasted food:
- Plan your weekly meals.
- Buy the food you'll eat.
- Buy smaller quantities: Only buy what you need.
- Eat the food you buy.
- Create an “eat this first” section in the fridge.
- Give away food you will not eat to friends, neighbors or food shelves.
- Compost food scraps or food that goes bad.
- Use the fridge check guide to see what foods you toss out the most and why.
Food for thought
Our vision
Each year, Minneapolis community members and businesses throw away nearly 128,000 tons of food.
The City of Minneapolis is committed to reducing wasted food:
- The Minneapolis Climate Equity Plan aims to recycle and compost 80% of citywide food waste by 2030.
- The Minneapolis Food Vision outlines strategies to prevent and divert wasted food.
Food waste facts
- The average family of four wastes more than $2,500 yearly on uneaten food.
- 70% of restaurant wasted food comes from customers not finishing their plates.
- In Hennepin County, each person wastes about 97 meals per year.
- The amount of food we waste is like buying five bags of groceries but leaving two behind.
- Food waste in the U.S. each year creates more greenhouse gases than all the cars in California, Texas, Florida and New York combined.