Serving up tips for a waste-free Thanksgiving

For most of us, Thanksgiving is all about the food. And for those looking to have a more environmentally-friendly Thanksgiving this year, the number one thing we can do is take steps to value the food we’re serving. This starts with us recognizing all of the resources that go into producing our Thanksgiving meal (long before we purchase our ingredients at the supermarket), and it ends with us doing our part to make sure none of it goes to waste.

According to ReFED, Americans will throw away about 320 million pounds of food on Thanksgiving day—more than $550M worth—which also comes with a big toll on the planet.

If you’re serving turkey this year, consider that US turkeys need about three pounds of food – corn, soy, and other crops – for each pound of their weight. That means a 16-pound turkey consumes the equivalent of 48 pounds of feed crops, and a pasture-raised turkey might eat twice that! Growing these crops requires significant amounts of fuel (which generates greenhouse gas emissions), water (a pound of corn needs roughly 50 gallons), and fertilizer. The expansion of animal feed crops such as corn and soy also pose serious risks to native habitats. In 2022 alone, we lost around 1.9 million acres of the North American Great Plains, primarily to row crop agriculture like corn and soy.

I wouldn’t dare tell anyone they need to cut out the turkey from Thanksgiving, but I will ask that we all take a moment to be truly thankful for what goes into producing this meal and to help make sure none of it ends up in a landfill.

With a little preparation and creativity we can all enjoy a Thanksgiving feast with less waste. And remember to keep these tips in mind throughout the holiday season (and all year round). What better way to show your gratitude for all our planet gives us!

This blog is updated from an original post published in 2022.