View source for Plastic vs food waste

There's sometimes a '''tradeoff''' between [[food waste]] and plastic packaging waste. {{talk|Maybe this page should be renamed to [[Packaging vs food waste]] to make it more general?}}

==Examples==
* Frozen vegetables (more packaging) vs fresh vegetables (more perishing)
* Individually portioned meals (more packaging per unit of food) vs large economic size (more likely to not finish all of it in time)
** {{rb|Large format is probably more eco-friendly in this case, if you can make the effort to finish everything in time.}}
* At a restaurant or event: taking home leftover food "to go"
** {{rb|Taking it "to go" is almost always better than letting the food go to waste, even if some extra packaging is involved. But if you can find a way to avoid both, then that's even better. Don't listen to peer pressure to leave before you're done eating everything.}}

==Seeking a fair comparison==
Popular eco-influencers have been focusing a lot on eliminating packaging and avoiding "processed" foods. But a perishable diet could potentially lead to more food waste overall, if people aren't careful. There needs to be more awareness and effort to avoid this.

Some things to note:
* [[Food waste]] is a major contributor to [[deforestation]].
* Plastic is made from [[fossil fuels]], but most packaging is fairly lightweight - more fossil fuels are burned just by shipping the food ([[emissions of small vs large-scale food shipping|even in a "local farmers' market" scenario]]).
* Plastic [[plastic pollution|pollutes the oceans and other ecosystems]], but maybe this depends on how it's disposed of? To what extent does throwing plastic in a regular garbage bin contribute to this? {{rn}} {{talk|Maybe move this question to the [[plastic pollution]] page?}}
{{pn-block|
'''Research needed:''' Math:
* Wasting a kilogram of plastic is equivalent to wasting how many kilograms of food, all things considered?
** Obviously this is a complex question that requires weighing a lot of different factors, and making somewhat arbitrary considerations. But we should at least try. Making a few rough estimates is better than having no answer at all.
}}

==What to do about it==
* [[Make use of food before it goes bad]] {{talk|I also want to add another point - that you can force yourself to finish what's on your plate - why you shouldn't worry about overeating (because you can just eat less later or delay your next meal - see also [[intermittent fasting]]). I know this is a touchy subject and I'm still working on how to phrase it in a non-patronizing way.}}
* There are some non-perishable foods that have a low packaging-to-food ratio. For example: Dried pasta, dried beans, flour, seasonings{{x|even though the ratio isn't great with spices, they're used in smaller quantities than other ingredients, so they don't contribute as much to overall plastic waste. I added this here because the other ingredients are pretty bland otherwise}}.

==See also==
* [[Food waste]]
* [[Plastic-free packaging]]