406 Forum

The average American household discards 20 pounds of food each month. What strategies do you implement to reduce food waste?

Shannon Westblade, Big Sky, Mont.
Front Desk, River Rock Lodge

“When my husband Lucas and I plan ahead, we tend to waste less. It’s the weeks that we just buy whatever we want and don’t plan ahead that we waste more.

“One way to not waste food is planning to eat your [dinner] leftovers for lunch the next day. Our roommate Katie [tries to] make sure we don’t waste anything.”

Andy Morton, Gallatin Gateway-Karst, Mont.
Tow truck driver, Canyon Auto Repair and Towing

“It’s something that bothers me. You just need to have two times a week when you use your leftovers. You can try to see what fresh foods in your refrigerator might be going bad soon, and use those first.”

Karen Macklin, Big Sky, Mont.
Owner, The Wrap Shack

“I’m very self-conscious about the amount of food we buy. The grocery stores are so good at presenting the products so you want to have them – it’s like food porn. We try to buy less and ask ourselves, ‘Are we really going to eat 20 apples?’

“We have just about zero waste at The Wrap Shack. Maybe I just take more time to plan my business than my personal life.”