Imagine all the food in your fridge and cupboards right now. How much of it is likely to end up the trash? Recent estimates suggest that about 30 – 40% of the food we produce in America goes to waste.

This heaping pile of food waste represents a loss of food, natural resources, and energy. It also means a whole lot of key nutrients are also going to waste. A recent study from the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics showed that this food waste is enough to feed over 190 million people with 2,000 calories a day for a year.

The problem isn’t just in our home kitchens. Chefs and culinary professionals are often tasked with the challenge of reducing food waste on an even larger scale in restaurants and cafeterias. Luckily, this means that these pros are great source for tricks for to cut food waste in the kitchen and when eating out. Since culinary professionals are often at the frontlines of the battle against food waste, they have a lot of experience implementing common sense strategies to prevent food waste in their kitchens.

We spoke to Chef Kwame Onwuachi to learn more about the problem of food waste and how we can all pitch in to help prevent it. Chef Kwame gives us his take on how cross-utilization, creativity and even underrated cuts of poultry can be part of the recipe to stop food waste. These tips can help everyone, even the least seasoned chef, take a culinary approach to limiting wasted food and eating a more sustainable diet.