COLUMBIA, S.C. — With Thanksgiving this week and many prepping for the big meal, DHEC says to have a thankful and not wasteful holiday. The department said there are ways ahead of time to eliminate waste, a starting point double-checking your menus.
“If your whole family doesn’t like Brussels sprouts maybe don’t make Brussels sprouts or if you know your clan is a bunch of dessert people sort of accommodate for that,” Adah Gorton with DHEC’s food waste reduction program said.
Meal planning is one option the department suggests by only buying the amount of ingredients you need for each dish. Gorton said this is a part of the department’s effort to be thankful not wasteful this holiday season.
“In South Carolina, we waste about a million tons of food each year and at the same time 1 in 10 South Carolinians are facing hunger,” she said.
Another tip is doing a head count. Know who is coming, what they eat, and how much of it they consume. Gorton suggested using a Guestimator created by Save The Food. The website calculates how much food is needed based on the number of guests and how much each person.
News 19 spoke with residents about their plans for Thanksgiving and they to be mindful of their waste this year.
Bob Gillespie said he and his wife won’t be dishing out a full dinner this year instead their going to a potluck.
“We’ll make one dish and hopefully when we come home the dish we go with will be empty and everybody will have eaten some of it or all of it. So there’s nothing to clean up after,” he said.
Sidney Bates said she’s also working to avoid a wasteful Thanksgiving by eliminating dinner altogether.
“We’re going to my daughter’s house and nobody wants to cook so apparently we wont be wasting food cause we’re going out to a restaurant,” Bates said.
DHEC adds turning your leftovers into compost helps with reducing waste.