Experts warn Thanksgiving feasts could create massive food waste. Here's why

Thanksgiving 2025 may see 320 million pounds of food wasted, researchers call for better planning.

Thanksgiving is a festival to enjoy a delectable feast and the company of friends and family. However, there might be another aspect of this festival that is not so innocent. According to NBC, around 320 million pounds of food will be wasted this year on Thanksgiving, as per research done by a non-profit organisation called ReFED.

Thanksgiving meals may cause major waste (Unsplash)

Experts are advising people to include a bit more planning in their cooking itinerary to avoid contributing to this monumental waste.

Thanksgiving waste

Joel Gamoran, a chef and cookbook author, told NBC that the most commonly wasted items include turkey and dairy products. According to Gamoran, when preparing a Thanksgiving meal, one should try to have a quarter pound of cooked turkey per person. Along with that, a fistful or half a cup of every side dish per person should suffice. By estimating the quantity of food you need this way, the chances of waste would be substantially reduced.

“It’s OK to make the whole bird,” Gamoran said. “But have a plan for how you’re going to take advantage of that later on. What are you going to do with the carcass, all that extra meat?”

Chef Gamoran also advises people to use the leftover items positively. The leftover carcass should be used to make turkey stock. The recipe is simple – put the turkey in cold water in a pot and cover it, bring it to a boil, and simmer for two hours. The stock thus prepared can be used as a soup thickener or an ingredient for mashed potatoes.

The leftover sides should also be utilized cleverly, says Gamoran. So, carrot tops can be used as herbs, potato skins turned into chips, onion and garlic peels heated in the oven and ground into a powder, butternut squash shells covered with vinegar and strained after a day to make rich umami vinegar, etc.

With so many options available, Thanksgiving meals should be an occasion for resourceful use of ingredients, not a ton of waste.

Don’t skip meals for Thanksgiving feast

While it is a good idea to keep yourself light before a hearty Thanksgiving fare, don’t take this too far by staying hungry before the main meal. As per Scientific American, staying hungry all day long and then eating a heavy meal is not good for gut health.

The article quotes Kathryn Tomasino, a gastrointestinal health expert, saying that fasting before a big meal “can have some negative consequences, both for people with gastrointestinal conditions and general digestion.”

Eating a lot after a prolonged period of abstention can cause people to feel the urge for more fatty and sugary items. On top of that, eating quickly can cause bloating, leading to problems like gastric reflux and regurgitation. So, keep yourself sufficiently nourished, if a little less than usual.