I love events centered around food. I don’t love seeing a mismatch between the amount of food and people’s appetites. Usually there’s too much food, which leads to waste. 

This past weekend featured one of those eating events: the Super Bowl! My husband and I hosted a party, the first time entertaining in awhile. We were excited to cook from scratch, but also aware of how easy it is to overestimate.  The facts bounced around in my head:

• At least a third of the 70M+ pounds of surplus food each year in the US occurs in homes.
• The average each person spends on uneaten food each year is estimated at nearly $800.
• Food decaying in landfills releases powerfully harmful methane.
• A significant amount of upstream resources are lost — and animal protein’s environmental impact is especially acute.
  Source: 2025 ReFed US Food Waste Report

I did some rough calculations before shopping, and overestimated (note to self: remember to use this awesome tool that lets you count people with different appetites differently!). As the guest list grew, I worried about ensuring everyone was content with the options. 

Despite our best intentions, we did not nail execution. To our credit, activities and outings with the kids ate into time we could have spent planning. Our menu had too many items. We didn’t map out oven timing, and prep took longer than expected. People filled up or left early. We remembered to spent a little time chatting with our friends! By the end of the night, several dishes were never made, and we had extra food.

What did we do a pretty good job at? Mitigation.

Ideally, giving away leftovers was an option, if we knew people would consume them. Fortunately, unused extra pre-cooked meatballs stayed in the freezer. Containers of vegetarian chili were split between the freezer and the fridge for upcoming meals. I repurposed broccoli from the veggie platter into a steamed dinner side the next day. The 8 pounds (!) of marinated chicken wings that we never cooked went into bags in the freezer.  Steak intended for a crostini appetizer joined the freezer fun. 

Now we just need to have another party!

The experience gave me renewed appreciation for anyone who manages food production tightly–especially restaurant teams who do it meal after meal and day after day. 

Kudos to the hosts, chefs and restaurant operators who keep people happily fed without wasting too much food!