I read a startling statistic in a press release the other day and wondered “Can this really be true?”

“In most homes one quarter of food people buy gets thrown out,” Tawra Kellam says in her article “Are Warehouse Stores Wearing Out Your Wallet” at LivingOnADime.com.

If so, that is an unbelieveable waste of resources and money. There are very rare occasions when my family wastes or throws out food. The last time I threw out an edible item before we finished it up was a container of sour cream that smelled bad when we were about two-thirds done with the product. OK, sour cream does turn quickly, no surprise there. In fact, anything that sits around in the refrigerator so long that it turns brown or green or smelly or past the expired date quickly ends up in the trash can. Rarely do I have to invoke that rule.

I cut up and repack meat to freeze into meal-size portions as soon as I arrive home from the grocery store. Dinner leftovers almost always end up as someone’s lunch (sometimes breakfast!). If we try a new product, and don’t like it, it’s not purchased again. I drop off unopened containers of items we don’t like to our church’s food pantry basket. If only some people in the family like a certain food, it’s served when they are the only ones home for dinner. And if I have a leftover cake or baked goods from a party, I know a kitchen at The Monroe Evening News where my co-workers will quickly finish off any treats.

Why did such frugalness become a routine in my kitchen? Because there have been times when there wasn’t much in the cupboards or refrigerator.

There was a day in the early 1990s, when I was a single parent with a young daughter, and had nothing to do one afternoon other than attend a grand opening for a new grocery store. I walked in with just enough money to buy a gallon of milk and figured I’d get some exercise walking around a bright shiny new store.

As part of the festivities, the store hosted a drawing every 15 minutes for a paper bag stuffed with store-brand grocery products. There was a huge display of these prize bags near the entrance. I entered the drawing. A few minutes later, my name was announced on the loudspeaker.

I gave a pleasant thank-you to the two clerks who handed me the bag. “Gee, I came in for a gallon of milk, and win a bag of groceries,” I said with a smile.

They looked at each other and I realized my name was probably called on purpose. They saw a young woman with a toddler and thought they would make my day.

Indeed, they did. When I got home I sorted through my winnings: a 2-liter bottle of pop, a bag of potato chips, a jar of peanut butter and several other canned and boxed goods that I can’t remember. It had been months since there was a bag of potato chips in the house. Pop was a treat I usually got when visiting my parents. The grocery winnings were mixed in with my other pantry items during the next two weeks.

To this day, I still remember when I was grateful to win a bag of groceries.

Can there really be homes where one-fourth of the food ends up in a trash can?