The Best Books to Help You Reduce Food Waste

Discover some practical, must-read books with tips and recipes to help your household cut food waste, save money, and embrace sustainable eating habits.

If you’re like me and care about the environment, finding effective and accessible ways to make sustainability part of your everyday life is likely very important to you. However, knowing how to do this in a way that truly makes a difference can sometimes feel elusive, out of reach, or simply overwhelming.

It’s easy to feel discouraged when we hear about the negative impact of climate change on our planet—especially given the seemingly slow response from world leaders and the increasing spread of far-reaching climate science disinformation.

The good news is that reducing individual and household food waste is a positive change that can be relatively straightforward to implement. Plenty of experts, books, and websites offer practical advice to help us get started (some of which are featured in this article).

From meal planning and buying smaller quantities of perishables to batch cooking, freezing, canning, or getting creative with leftovers—there is something for everyone to try.

This post is part of the Climate Change Collective, a dedicated group of bloggers that tackle environmental and climate-related issues. The lead topic this month, ’Why Food Waste Is a Big Deal and How To Prevent It‘ was written by Alison from A Sustainably Simple Life.

Why Reducing Food Waste Is Important for Our Planet

In our individual households, food waste typically refers to edible food and meals that are discarded instead of being consumed. This can happen for various reasons, such as over-purchasing, inconsistent meal planning, improper storage leading to spoilage, or simply leaving food unused or uneaten.

While food loss and waste occurs throughout the entire food supply chain—from farming and harvesting to production, processing, and retail—this article focuses on the food we discard from our pantries, cupboards, refrigerators, and freezers at home.

However, regardless of when or why it occurs, food waste remains a growing environmental concern. Large quantities often end up in landfills, where they decompose and release methane—a potent greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere far more effectively than carbon dioxide, contributing significantly to global warming.

On a worldwide scale, approximately 1.3 billion tons of food produced for human consumption is lost, damaged, or discarded each year—a staggering amount that could have fed about 3 billion people. Of this, an estimated 40 percent ultimately rots in landfills.

Additionally, food waste creates significant economic challenges. The raw materials, labour, and other resources required to produce, transport, package, and sell food to consumers represent a substantial financial investment—much of which often goes unrecovered when items that could have been sold or eaten are discarded.

Beyond the economic costs, food waste can also exacerbate other global hunger and food insecurity issues, an urgent problem affecting over 700 million people worldwide from being able to reliably access nutritious food. At a time when such a staggering number of people face these challenges, the volume of edible food being wasted underscores an urgent misallocation of resources. Reducing food waste could help address this disparity by ensuring more food reaches people rather than landfills.

And while our households may not be solely responsible for all of the food that gets thrown out, we still contribute significantly to the problem. In fact, studies estimate that households account for about 60 percent of global food waste, making us one of the largest contributors. By focusing on reducing our own food waste, we can make a tangible difference to the environment. Simple changes like planning meals more effectively, storing food properly, and using leftovers can collectively reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills, cutting methane emissions and conserving the resources used to produce the food in the first place.

So, if you want to be part of the solution, read on to discover some of the best books that offer recipes, meal plans, grocery shopping lists, and valuable tips on how to reduce your household food waste.

10 Books About How To Reduce Household Food Waste

All of the titles listed here provide valuable perspectives on reducing food waste and introducing sustainable cooking practices. Some offer recipes, kitchen organisation tips, shopping lists, and meal plans, while others serve as informational guides, sharing storage hacks, food-saving tips, and much more. Whatever you’re looking for, there is something here that will be useful to you!

The No-Waste Kitchen Cookbook by Arina Suchde

• Main Focus: A selection of recipes that utilise every part of the ingredients, along with practical tips for meal planning and creative ways to repurpose leftovers and food scraps, encouraging sustainability and mindful cooking in everyday kitchens.

• Notable Content: Flavourful recipes such as Roti Nachos, Dal Tikka, Cauliflower Stalk Hummus, and Eggplant Dip

Economy Gastonomy: Eat Better and Spend Less by Allegra McEvedy and Paul Merrett

• Main Focus: Practical tips on meal planning nutritious recipes that make use of cost-effective and budget-friendly, everyday ingredients to help minimise food waste.

• Notable Content: Delicious recipes, including Spicy Black Bean Quesadilla, Warm Poached Salmon with Never-Fail Hollandaise, Anytime Cookies, and Coffee Granita Crunch.

Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook by Dana Gunders

• Main Focus: Cutting down on food waste at every stage of food preparation—from shopping and cooking to storing leftovers—complete with useful checklists, infographics, and simple recipes.

• Notable Content: Sections on the environmental impact of food production, how to store food to extend its shelf life, and how to revive wilted produce and stale bread. Also included are recipes like Broccoli Stalk Salad, Leftover Vegetable Soup, and Buried Chocolate Avocado Mousse.

Vegetable Kingdom: The Abundant World of Vegan Recipes by Bryant Terry

• Main Focus: Although not specifically focused on reducing food waste, this plant-based cookbook highlights creative, accessible recipes inspired by African Diaspora traditions. It emphasises seasonal ingredients, sustainability, and cultural storytelling through food.

• Notable Content: A variety of incredible recipes, including Barbecued Carrots with Slow-Cooked White Beans, Citrus & Garlic-Herb-Braised Fennel, Haricot Vert and Mushroom Stew, and Chilled Green Soup.

Perfectly Good Food by Margaret Li and Irene Li

• Main Focus: A practical guide to zero-waste cooking, offering tips for using leftovers, repurposing food scraps, and preventing waste. It includes approachable recipes that transform often-discarded ingredients into delicious meals, making sustainable cooking accessible for every home cook.

• Notable Content: Includes useful sections on zero-waste kitchen strategies such as freezing, pickling, and stock-making, along with amazing recipes like How-You-Like-It Savory Pancakes, Freestyle Vegetable Summer Rolls, Fridge-Cleanout Fried Rice, and Banana Bread.

The Waste-Wise Kitchen Companion by Jean B. MacLeod

• Main Focus: Although not a recipe book, this resource is packed with valuable information and easy-to-understand strategies for proper food storage, repurposing leftovers and scraps, and maximising the value of common household ingredients.

• Notable Content: Hundreds of practical tips for everyday foods and ingredients, organised alphabetically to help you quickly find what you need.

The Low Carbon Cookbook by Alejandra Schrader

• Main Focus: Creative, sustainable, plant-based recipes using local, seasonal ingredients to promote environmentally friendly eating. These recipes encourage readers to reduce their environmental impact while enjoying delicious, nutritious dishes.

• Notable Content: Valuable sections offering expert tips and advice on how to shop, cook, and eat by making the most climate-friendly choices, along with fabulous recipes like Falafel Bites on Endive Boats, Creamy Butternut Soup, Jackfruit Empanadas, and Watermelon Pizza.

Love Your Leftovers by Nick Evans

• Main Focus: Simple, practical recipes that transform leftovers into delicious new meals, helping reduce food waste and encouraging home cooks to make the most of every ingredient in their kitchen.

• Notable Content: Tasty recipes like Smoky Black Bean Salad, Italian Pesto Chicken, Chopped Steak Grilled Cheese, and Forty-Minute Pho.

Cooking with Scraps by Lindsay-Jean Hard

• Main Focus: Inventive recipes that transform food scraps like leftover vegetable peels, stems, cores, and rinds—along with other typically discarded ingredients—into amazingly delicious meals. These recipes promote sustainability while maximising the use of every part of the food.

• Notable Content: Highly creative recipes, including Artichoke Leek Nachos with Feta and Black Olives, Oven Frittata, Soba Noodles with Marmalade Dipping Sauce, and Fudgy Aquafaba Brownies.

Scraps, Wilt & Weeds by Mads Refslund and Tama Matsuoka Wong

• Main Focus: Encouraging sustainable eating by using food scraps, wilted produce, and edible weeds in cooking, transforming overlooked ingredients into creative, flavorful dishes.

• Notable Content: Fascinating and informative sections that educate readers on a number of topics, including tips on how to identify if food has actually gone off or if it can be revived and used. There are also 100 incredible recipes to try, such as Beet Top and Stem Salsa, Roasted Cauliflower Stalks with Mushrooms and Brie, Pork Ribs Glazed with Overripe Pear Sauce, and Carrot Tops Pesto.

Choosing the right cookbook for your household from the above list will depend on several factors. These include household size, your specific food interests, your cooking style and skill level, as well as your personal dietary preferences and needs.

With a bit of careful research, you should be able to find a cookbook that suits your preferences. You could soon be on your way to creating an eco-friendly, more efficient, and sustainable kitchen that reduces food waste!

In Summary

Introducing change in life, no matter what it is, doesn’t have to be done perfectly all the time or implemented all at once. Taking climate action by reducing household food waste is no different.

In fact, making incremental adjustments—such as starting with one tip or recipe that revitalises, repurposes, and reuses leftovers or scraps—can be the best way to create and maintain consistent, lasting impact. And picking any of these books will do just that, as they all offer valuable informational guides, meal prep checklists, and delightful recipes to use.

Hopefully, this has inspired you to learn more about how reducing food waste in your home is a simple yet powerful way to contribute to a more sustainable future. By making small changes, you can make a big difference—both in your kitchen and for the planet.

Which book do you like the sound of? What do you do to reduce your household food waste?

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Further Info:

Useful organizations to follow and support that focus on sustainable eating and reducing food waste: Food Rescue Hero | Soul Fire Farm | Goodr | International Food Waste Coalition

Informative non-fiction books that delve into sustainable eating, reducing food waste, and minimizing food loss (that are not cookbooks):

• The Color of Food: Stories of Race, Resilience, and Farming by Natasha Bowens
• The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food by Dan Barber
• Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health by Marion Nestle
• Everybody Eats: Communication and the Paths to Food Justice by Marianne LeGreco and Niesha Douglas