There are a huge number of reasons I can give to encourage us to reduce the amount of food that is thrown away each day including;

• The starving peoples living in the third world
• The increased carbon footprint of the food you do consume
• The wasted energy used to get the food to you and for you to cook it

However there are lots of websites that cover these subjects, written by people that know much more about it all than I do. There are already hefty statistics that governments use to prove we should do more. Many of us we feel far too distant from these worldly matters to make permanent changes to our own lives because of them. So I shall share with you the main reasons I want to reduce the amount of food I waste my family and I produce.

• Cost 
• conscience
• just because I can
• Cost

Lets look at each of these a little closer.

• I spend hard earned money buying and growing the food I eat. It has to be cheeper and more satisfying to eat as much of it as I can than to throw it away and buy more.
• After I became a composter I learnt a bit about the greenhouse gasses produced by anarobic decompostition of food waste in landfill sites. I can cut that out straight away, I can't start to feed the third world population however I can help reduce those greenhouse gasses. by reducing my waste I am doing a little bit.
• When it comes down to it we are all more interested in helping ourselves than others. That was until I had my son when I suddenly became more concerned about his future and the preservation of myself through him.
• Those that know me well can tell you I am competative and driven. I set my own goals and strive to achieve them, i like to be able to say "I did that". Reducing waste, not only food but any waste, is a personal challenge
• Did I mention money, buy food twice or buy shoes - hmm, no challenge

I am not going to tell you why you should reduce your food waste. If you feel the need to, that is probably reason enough otherwise you will just need to work it out for yourself. Have a go at compiling a list of your own reasons then send me your top 3, we can compile some statistics of our own.