Food waste is a huge problem both economically and environmentally.
that Costs to U.S. consumers According to the Environmental Protection Agency, $728 per year; Greenhouse gas equivalent to global warming Of the 42 coal-fired power plants.
Carly Bodrug, a cookbook author who emphasizes plant-based cooking and low-waste recipes, said she was surprised to learn that households, not restaurants or grocery stores, account for the largest proportion of food thrown into the garbage. Refeda nonprofit organization that aims to reduce food waste.
“And because we’re so busy, we don’t actually take advantage of the food we buy,” she says.
Food has an even greater environmental impact because it undergoes a long journey of growing, processing, packaging, transporting, cooking and storing before it ends up in the trash.
The good news is that reducing waste is good for the planet and for your household’s bottom line. From smart purchases to creative recipes, we’ve gathered expert wisdom on how to do it.
Start before you go to the store
Bodrug wasn’t always keen on reducing food waste. She remembers going to the grocery store every week, buying a bag of oats, and then returning home to find three half-eaten bags already in the pantry. She said when she learned there was a “huge problem” with waste nationally, she knew she wanted to do something about it.
Her first solution is to make a list. Write down your plans for the week and check your fridge and pantry to see what’s in there before heading to the store. Lists prevent duplication and reduce impulse purchases.
“The worst thing for us, and I’m sure we’ve all experienced it, is going to the grocery store because you’re hungry and thinking, ‘Oh my god, I need everything.’ When you go to the grocery store with a list, you’re buying with intention,” she said.
Lists alone don’t solve everything. For example, don’t buy a bag of seven lemons if you only need one and have no plans for the rest. says Adam Kay, co-founder and chief culinary officer of Spare Food. Spare Food is a company that rescues surplus or unsold produce from farms and processes it into products that are sold to chefs and businesses.
Mr Kay said people could also choose to buy food using raw materials that would otherwise go to waste. It could be a vegetable soup made from surplus produce, or a trail mix made from cocoa fruit, which is often discarded once the cocoa powder is harvested.
store the food properly
The longer you store food in the refrigerator, the more likely it is to be eaten.
Bodrug said storing leafy greens with paper towels or moisture-absorbing cloths will keep them dry and less likely to wilt. Herbs and stemmed items will stay fresh longer if you place them in a jar of water, like a bouquet.
Kay’s solution is to use the freezer generously and then make sure to empty it.
“At least once a week, we have a night where we clean out the fridge and freezer and eat, and we might end up preparing two or three different dishes,” he said. “But I know, so let’s try it.”
If you think it’s a waste, think again.
Kaye said people may be throwing away even more food than is being counted. That’s because the stalks, stems, and ribs of many agricultural products are “perfectly edible.”
When cooking with parsley or cilantro, chop up the stems and include them. Same goes for carrot leaves in pesto, radish leaves in salads, and broccoli stalks in stir-fries.
Bodrug chops the kale stalks like green onions and doesn’t peel the carrots or potatoes. Her onion peels, garlic peels, carrot and celery sprouts, and other scraps go into freezer bags to make vegetable stock. “Once you have a lot in the freezer, you just throw it in a pot, add a bunch of water, some spices like turmeric and garlic, add some salt, and you have a beautiful stock, and voila! compost those scraps” she said.
Recipes that reduce waste or eliminate waste at all
Kay has four go-to dishes for using up food in the fridge before it goes bad: frittatas, stir-fries, smoothies, and pesto.
Pesto doesn’t have to be made from basil, he said. After all, pesto comes from an Italian word meaning to crush or beat.
“I have yet to find anything green that you can’t make pesto with,” he said. “Pesto can be arugula, pesto can be kale, pesto can be peas, pesto can be a combination of those things.”
Kay says blenders are also great for chunky fruits and wilted vegetables because they can be blended to make smoothies.
Frittatas are a delicious and versatile dish because all you need is food scraps and eggs, he said.
“I put leftover spaghetti in a frittata. I mean, it’s delicious,” he said. “A frittata is really great with a green onion or two, a little piece of salami at the end, or a little chunk of cheese going south.”
Vegetable cuts that are often discarded, such as ribs and stalks of cauliflower leaves and broccoli stalks, as well as leftover meat, are all suitable for fried rice.
Finally, eat more at home.
Of course, life gets busy, and sometimes that well-intentioned bag of spinach ends up wilting in the back of your fridge.
Chef Dan Barber, who experimented with serving food that would have been thrown away at a pop-up restaurant called WastED, said to reduce food waste you need to get excited about cooking.
“Rather than reheating or asking someone to cook for you, you actually use a stove and a knife,” said Barber, who is also co-owner of two restaurants in New York City, Family Meals at Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns. “It’s actually cooking and working in the kitchen to take something that no one wants or that doesn’t look good at first glance and turn it into something appealing. It takes a little imagination and effort.”
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