How to Avoid Food Waste at Breakfast

If the morning is a good indicator of the day, it might not be a good day for food in Italian homes. Every month, in fact, the equivalent of 800 half-kilo boxes of cereal, an impressive food waste that starts from breakfast and which mainly concerns baked goods, corn flakes and muesli, wasted by 80% of Italian families.

Index of topics

How to avoid food waste at breakfast

The fault lies, first of all, with bad food storage habits, but also with the widespread bad habit of buying large food supplies Only to let them molder in the pantry. And if a sustainable future seems distant, like something we can't participate in and contribute to, it's time to change our mindset. Starting at the table, in the morning.

Small portions

In 28% of casesIt's the excessive portions that leave our breakfast bowls half-full. This waste may be invisible, but it's significant, and this is especially true for milk, our main breakfast staple. But what's the right serving size for cereal to avoid wasting it? For children 30 grams, two nice large spoonfuls of a kitchen spoon, or half a glass. For adults, the portion doubles, up to 70-80 grams.

The menu

We know how difficult it is to balance the needs of an entire family, juggling daily meal planning and family life, but if you spent a few extra minutes planning breakfasts, not just lunches and dinners, you could optimize your food needs, buying only what you need, without wasting money. Breakfast, like lunch or dinner, has its own menu: you can vary it even daily; the important thing is to know it ahead of time so as not to waste food that later becomes leftover.

Older boxes first

When it comes to food to eat, the rule is: first in first outThat is, the oldest foods should be consumed first. A good way to do this is to place supplies behind older items, although it's always best to avoid overstocking. Why have four boxes of cereal at home?

How to store biscuits

This is universal advice, but in the case of breakfast products it takes on greater relevance as it is often the loss of freshness of the cookies, or crumbling the cereal so that it ends up directly in the trash. It would therefore be sufficient to use biscuit tins or airtight jars for storage, which preserve their freshness and fragrance.

Recycle leftovers and breadcrumbs

Even the biscuits from the bottom of the bag, those that have been open for a long time, crumbled cereals, and leftovers from packages that have become soggy can and should be given a new life. There are countless recipes that recycle and reuse them, from the very famous chocolate salami to various cakes with leftovers. But they are also excellent as topping for fruit salads, smoothies and shakes or, by crumbling them further, as a base for the cheesecakeYou can also prepare them in advance and freeze the pulp; it will come in handy.

Check if something can be frozen

Often, it could be a solution to prevent food waste to freeze in portions Food that can be frozen. An example? Croissants or snacksBut check the refrigerator temperature carefully.

Read the labels

The evergreen of advice: read with awareness and knowledge thelabel of the product. Differentiating, above all, the minimum durability date, the TMC, the words "best before", and the actual expiry date, which is indicated with the phrase 'use by'The minimum durability date is the date by which a product can still be consumed but its integrity is not guaranteed. Let's take an example: if you eat biscuits shortly after the date indicated on the minimum conservation term, doesn't necessarily mean these cookies are bad for you. They may not be the crumblysts, but that doesn't mean they're inedible. Knowing the difference can save cookies and cereals from the trash. And the planet from tons of wasted food.

Look at what's in the pantry

It seems crazy, but it's a concrete help to visualize and focus on the food we have in the pantry for breakfast. All it takes is a snapshot with the smartphoneOften, in fact, breakfast products are not foods that go in the refrigerator, and so we tend to park them in the pantry without remembering. With the resulting wasteHaving a photo handy can help us shop wisely and avoid buying what's already there, saving food from the garbage.

How not to waste food at breakfast