Jan 14, 2022

Food Waste

What is food waste?
Kevin's role in this
Importance of food waste
Main problems of food waste
Types of food waste
Prevention of food waste
Solutions with Kevin's

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, wasted food is the single largest type of garbage put into municipal landfills - and those landfills constitute the third-largest source of human-related methane gas emissions, which contribute harmfully to climate change.

Reducing food waste is one of the most important things we can do to mitigate climate change, help more food gets into the mouths of the hungry, and save money.

So what can we do, in our own lives, to reduce food loss and waste? This new era demands creative, sustainable food management practices; ways of eating that ensure food produced is food eaten, not thrown away. Two ways to approach this -

Reduce food waste by acquiring only food that will be eaten (pre-empting the problem)
Utilize uneaten food by creatively incorporating it into meals (preventing food scraps from becoming trash)

What is food waste?

A picture showing some spoilt and wasted food

Food waste occurs at both retail and consumer levels. Grocery stores have more food than they can sell, some of it goes bad and is discarded. This is a structural and indeed supply chain issue, one which organizations like the Natural Resources Defense Council are occupied with addressing.

It is a problem of abundance. For the vast majority of human history, our food supply has been scarce and unstable. Modern agricultural practices have dramatically increased the amount of food we have (though, crucially, the uneven allocation of this food has perpetuated mass hunger for much of the globe).

This blog focuses on household food waste, the squandering of wholesome food in the average home. We all do it at one point or another, but these small concessions lead to large societal problems.

Kevin's role in this

In our novel approach to healthy eating, we are constantly aware of these problems. Kevin's products come in precise portions so none of our food goes to waste.

If you're considering a change in diet and are curious about what a paleo lifestyle or what is keto diet, you can try single serving portions with Kevin's. This allows you to try changing your diet without buying a lot of ingredients that you may never use again.

With highly versatile dishes and flavors, a Kevin's entrée can tie together, say, the leftover vegetables in your fridge, preventing that food from ending up in a landfill and giving you a delicious, cost-effective meal.

Check out our sumptuous and cost-effective Cilantro lime chicken:

A memorable entrée that will soon become a weekly staple -- tender chicken breast strips in a bright chimichurri sauce made with cilantro, lime, and garlic.

Cilantro Lime Chicken

Why is food waste important?

Foremost, food wasted isn't food eaten. In a society like ours where hunger and starvation remain dire problems, wasting food is an ethical dilemma. In the EPA's Food Recovery Hierarchy, feeding the hungry is the second-most important step in reducing food waste (behind not creating surplus food in the first place).

Secondly, wasted food releases methane gas as it decomposes in landfills. These emissions accumulate in the atmosphere, speeding the warming of our planet which will soon make ever-larger parts of the world unlivable and multiply the occurrence of natural disasters everywhere.

What are the main problems of food waste?

The main food waste challenge is that, commercially, we over-produce food. This leads to grocery shelves and warehouses with heaps of food that is never eaten, is allowed to turn bad, and eventually is wasted.

By making food in serving-size (two adult servings) packages, Kevin's is creating a less wasteful way to eat. Our sous-vide vacuum-sealed process creates entrees and sides with longer shelf lives, so our food stays perfectly fresh and ready to eat for longer. And with our supremely flavorful sauces, there is less need to buy additional spices or herbs which can often go to waste.

Our Korean BBQ style servings for two people is perfect for preventing wastage:

Tender chicken breast strips in a sweet and spicy Bulgogi sauce made with coconut aminos, garlic, and toasted sesame seeds. Make a Korean stir fry bowl in 5 minutes flat!

Korean BBQ-Style Chicken

What are the types of food waste?

There are different ways to categorize food waste. Here is one way from the EPA.

Food loss: food that is grown but unused, like grain that lies unharvested or cattle that is slaughtered but not butchered.
Excess food: food that is sold but uneaten, like the produce in a grocery store that goes bad and is thrown away.
Food waste: food that is prepared for consumption but un-ingested, like edible scraps falling into the trashcan.

How can we prevent food waste?

There are entire entities, like the Food and Agriculture Organization, committed to minimizing food waste and envisioning better alternatives for our food supply models. Their work is very important.

But on the personal and household level, what can we do? The answer to that starts with not buying more food than you will eat. Kevin's strives to be one of the best meal delivery kits and aims to make this easier with our clear portioning based on nutritional science. Your entrees and sides come in two adult servings, perfect for sharing with another or having easy leftovers.

How can we reuse food waste?

If you have food in your fridge that you aren't sure how to use, you have the perfect opportunity to prevent food waste, which will save you money and time while contributing to the larger struggle to prevent waste.

Extra veggies sitting around? Give them a quick sauté or oven-roast, and combine with a Kevin's entree like the vibrant Korean BBQ. Packed with zesty flavor, our product does the seasoning for you, so you can simplify your healthy eating and put that leftover produce to use!