Do You Waste Food?

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I was reading the latest issue of Natural Awakenings and there was a great article on ways to reduce costly food waste. It’s a fact that most of us discard food items each week because we fail to eat them before they go bad. The NRDC reports that 40% of all edible food products in the United States is wasted each year! That it is around 34 million tons!!!!

Food waste occurs at many levels. Farm fresh fruits and veggies are often left unharvested because their appearance does not meet aesthetic standards imposed by grocery stores and pieces bruised during shipping and handling are a lot of times discarded. Also many people just simply buy more than they will use. Food waste represents the single largest component of all municipal solid waste now going into landfills.

Here are some ways to reduce our “food print”

Shop smarter by planning your meals for the week.

Inventory your pantry, fridge and freezer then make your shopping list and stick to it. Also we tend to over buy when we are hungry so don’t do your grocery shopping with your stomach growling!

Organize your fridge. Place leftovers at eye level so they can easily be seen and also move older items to the front .

If you see some of the items might go bad before you will eat them.Freeze them! Many foods will last for months if they are frozen.Also many fruits can be made into smoothies, jams or jelly

.

Wilted veggies such as celery, carrots, soft tomatoes or limp broccoli can be used in soups and stews.

No matter how hard we try there will always be food waste but a great way to use this is to compost it.

Do you find that you throw out a lot of food each week or do you put any of these tips to use?

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  • Peggy Witter

    This is something that we discuss on a regular basis in our family (at times ad nauseum according to them, haha!) This just the way I was raised, to NOT waste food. Even if we go out to eat, we take every single leftover home… to include any salad, bread, and partial drinks. I plant my celery ends for a continuous supply of celery, sprouted garlic to be used as garlic chives, and the ends of green onions. The peels from organic citrus fruit is used to make cleaning vinegars, zest and candied peels. We save bones from all meats to make broths. My family just shakes their heads when I even save the crumbs from bread bags, crackers, cereals etc but they end up being used for struessel toppings and breading. I even use a spatula to get the last out of peanut butter jar and I save the wax paper wrapping off of butter to “grease” pans. Once in a blue moon we end up having to cut small slivers of mold off cheese which has to be thrown out but usually that is it… unless I do something goofy like leave the pot of chicken and noodles out on the counter ALL night long (which happened recently…. ugh I was so angry with myself…. even if it was leftovers given to us after a church event… thankfully we had already had two full meals but it did leave me a bit miffed at myself…but now I’m even more careful to check the counters to make sure ALL is put away properly!)

  • http://lannaelong.blogspot.com/ Lannae

    Make sure you sign up for the Generous Helpings Tix contest!
    OK Alicia, yes, it hurts me to waste food, be we do. Rotting veggies and fruit go into compost, and some dinner foods go in the trash. I do try and freeze leftovers, and that is what I normally take for lunch. I make my own frozen dinners with many leftovers. Some of the leftovers that make it to the trash are dinner leftovers that I don’t like that much. I wish I were a better cook, then I would not toss out some food. I just tossed some noodle and seaweed dish that I thought would be awesome, but it made me frown because it wasn’t good. I tried taking some for lunch for a 2 days, and frowned eating it. I couldn’t figure out out to re purpose it because the gluten free noodles I used had a bad texture, and the seaweed and spices I used were strong in flavor that wasn’t good to me. It is the 1st and last time I try to make this dish. It is about 50%-50% chance that a new recipe is good, and that bums me out when it is bad. This one was particularly bad. I just don’t want to freeze a bad meal for later because I will be the only one having to eat it, and I will frown. Oh this dish, I do love seaweed salad at Japanese restaurants, and I thought I figured out what is in those recipes, and I tried it and it was a disaster. What am I to do?

  • http://littlegreenblog.com/ mrs green @littlegreenblog.com

    Great post; food waste is one of my bugbears; I almost feel it is immoral when there are people who are starving in the world. We keep food waste to an absolute minimum. At one stage we had none at all, but it takes constant monitoring and lifestyle tweaks. Now we DO have a little but we have chickens so they get to eat our food scraps and give us eggs in return – permaculture at its best!

  • Amy (Savory Moments)

    This is such a great topic. I try so hard to not waste food. I look forward to the day when we have land (not an apartment) so we can have chickens to eat more scraps and a larger compost. I try to not overbuy things like produce…. Sometimes it is difficult though.

  • Jordan@the2seasons.com

    We try our best not to waste food but it does happen sometimes. At least when I have old veggies and fruit I give them to the worms for our compost. I do not feel as guilty.

  • http://www.anutinanutshell.com/ Liz @ ANIAN

    I never thought about using wilted veggies in soups and stews. What a great idea! I am pretty good about freezing food so it won’t go bad before I eat it though. :)

  • http://www.cafefashionista.com/ Cafe Fashionista

    I am always so careful about wasting food. I literally feel guilty if I make too much and have to throw excess away. :/

  • http://theresalwaysthyme.blogspot.com/ Alwaysthymetocook

    I’m careful and we do try but I do find we waste more than we should. There’s always those use by/sell by dates hanging over our heads and I know they are guidelines. I do use the soft vegetables for soups though. Great tips.

  • http://aboutlastweekend.blogspot.com/ Jody Brettkelly

    I’ve always resisted the Cosco shop because I think I would end up chucking so much stuff out. We mostly do a combo of Trader Jos and the corner store-deli

  • Jody

    Trying to share food now with my family and mother-in-law. It helps. Thanks for stopping by. Love your blog too!

    Jody

  • melissa blake

    I’ve been trying hard not to waste food, especially where leftovers are concerned.

  • http://ohmyveggies.com/ Kiersten @ Oh My Veggies

    I’m a big believer in meal planning. We never throw out food and it’s 100% because I plan every meal and buy nothing that I don’t have a plan for. It really makes a difference!

  • http://twitter.com/OrgasmicChef Maureen

    I freeze fruit for instant sorbet in my thermomix, I use “tired” veggies for vegetable stock, I freeze cream, leftover wine, egg whites – anything I can or I bake or cook something and pop it in the freezer as well. I hate wasting food.

  • http://www.foodgal.com/ Carolyn Jung

    It’s truly flabbergasting how much food gets wasted on a daily basis. Those are useful and thoughtful tips to help us all do better with that.

  • http://adaanddarcy.blogspot.com/ Kellie Collis

    Lovely tips! It is truly unavoidable but I think food waste is the worst that could get wasted. Have a gorgeous day, Kellie xx

  • Thesummerporch

    Good Morning Alicia ~~ I mostly freeze what I know we won’t get around to eating with in a week. I think it’s a shame to waste food, you are so right about meal planning and proper food storage.
    Have a lovely day,
    Hugs Rosemary…x

  • http://wildlifeinthewoods.blogspot.com/ Susan in the Boonies

    There’s not much I hate worse than wasting food, but I am so guilty of doing it. I think you’re right: better planning is critical if I want to reduce the amount of food that I waste.

  • http://www.makinen.fr/susa/wordpress/ Be Inspired!

    I love that you talk about this. If there’s something I cannot do, it is wasting food. Even when I was undereating, I never left anything on my plate. It is just so disrespectful, I find. Eating only the middle part of a pizza, or tossing half of your salad away. And then going on to a dessert. Why not eat what you got and skip the extra? Food is the gift that still so many do not have.

  • http://www.facebook.com/rewinn Randall E. Winn

    Excellent topic! Most fruits that are turning soft can go right into a pie, or be frozen and made into pie later. We also make pie from apples from the trees of neighbors who reject their imperfect appearance. I just popped into the oven a pie using some sorry-looking apples, filled out by the end of last year’s berries. Don’t forget to sprinkle cardamon on top!

  • Kitchen Belleicious

    great post! I had to admit I waste more food than I wish. Its so hard sometimes being busy and buying produce but not getting around to it.

  • http://cowpattysurprise.blogspot.com/ Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise)

    Oh darlin’, this is one Ozark Farm Chick who throws next to nothin’ away. I stock up on supplies twice a month and use everything. I cook in large batches and freeze entrees up in just the right servin’s. Heck, I have everything to fajita steaks to spaghetti sauce frozen. ‘Sure makes puttin’ a meal together a breeze too!

    I just wanted to pop in and thank ya for visitin’ with your sweet comment. Please drop by often, the door of the Ponderosa is always open!!!

    God bless ya and have a fantastic day sweetie!!! :O)

  • Lavender dreams

    We try not to waste anything! Putting ripe fruit and veggies in the freezer is a wonderful tip. I even freeze the last of the bread to take to the pond and feed the fish! We don’t have much trash. We recycle so much that we only have a small amount of trash every week! Great post, my friend!

  • Brook

    great suggestions!

  • http://www.joanne-eatswellwithothers.com/ Joanne

    I menu plan like CRAZY and eat lots of leftovers so I tend not to have much waste. I think what I’m worst about is having things go bad before I use them! need to work on that.

  • http://withadashofcolor.blogspot.com/ Poppy

    Hi Alicia, this is a great post and I’m glad you wrote about this… I try as much as possible to use my left overs in some other way like a snack or starters, so for the kids it’s something different and food doesn’t get wasted. Planning ahead is also helpful and prevents a lot of wastes. Thanks for sharing these helpful tips, really appreciate it:) Hugs,Poppy

  • http://barefeetinthekitchen.com/ Mary

    I menu plan three meals a day most of the time and I am pretty careful with the leftovers too. If there is enough for a full meal, I often will adjust the menu plan accordingly, so I don’t forget to use it all. Having a specific place in the refrigerator that is just for leftovers helps a lot too. If something gets shoved to the back, I will forget it is there.

    As for throwing out produce, I typically shop once a week for my fruits and vegetables and include them on the meal plan, so that I remember to use them. I very rarely through things away anymore.

  • Thistlewoodfarms

    I agree! I try very hard not to waste any food and shop smart. I think the key for us is not really buying in bulk because there is a tendency for waste when you overbuy!

    Thanks for a great reminder!

    blessings,
    karianne

  • http://thisitalianfamily.wordpress.com/ Rach

    Such great tips! We are normally pretty good about not wasting food, but I think that is partially because we both really like leftovers and we always have a designated weekly “left over” meal day. :)

    • http://ecofriendlyhomemaking.com Alicia

      Rach,
      I looked for a place to e-mail you on your blog but didn’t see one. I wanted you to know that I have been commenting on your blog posts but it seems that WordPress is not letting them through. I am not sure what is up but evidently there are quite a few other people having this same challenge.Some people say that they find the comments in spam. So please let me know if they are showing up there. Thanks, Alicia

  • Jennifer

    I love these tips. We used to have a lot of food waste, mostly because we would buy veggies and fruit and then go out to eat. I used to feel so horrible about it. I am glad to say we have gotten a lot better about it. Lately, I generally prefer home cooking to going out to eat and we go to the grocery store a couple of times a week buying a few parishables at a time rather than the once a week trip we used to make.

  • http://cherylbarker.blogspot.com/ Cheryl Barker

    Alicia, thanks so much for visiting my blog the other day. Always fun to meet new folks online. Great tips here on how to avoid wasting food. I plan my meals each week so don’t have too much wasted food, but it does happen every now and then. I’m going to share your site with my daughter. She loves trying to be eco friendly. Blessings to you!

  • http://designdreamsbyanne.blogspot.ca/ Anne

    You’re so right!! and organizing saves you so much money, too!!

    Thank you for popping by my blog and leaving such a sweet comment. Have a wonderful day!