Cutting out Food Waste

I recently heard a story on the radio about food waste that really got me thinking, especially about how much produce I have unfortunately let wilt away in my refrigerator. My intentions are always good as I load up on beautiful produce at the farmer’s market, but then the crazy week gets the best of me and I forget to actually wash, cut up and prepare my weekly bounty. The population that I work with is generally lower-income and I see many people struggling to put food, much less healthy food, on the table for their families every day. This makes me feel incredibly guilty when I have to toss out any foods in my home. The story mentioned a link to The Food Keeper (http://www.fmi.org/industry-topics/consumer-affairs/food-keeper-food-storage-database) which provides information on food safety and storage information for a variety of foods. This is certainly helpful, and is one answer to make sure we store our food properly to increase the likelihood we will use it, but still leaves me with a feeling that I could do more. After all, the estimate is that we each waste about 20 pounds of food per month! I wanted to share some of the tips I have collected over the years to help others and myself cut back on unnecessary spoilage and waste in the kitchen. Who is on board with me to reduce their family’s food waste this year? What ideas do you have?

·         Freeze leftover tomato sauce, tomato paste or broth in ice cube trays or storage cubes if you know you will not be using it right away (label and date!)

·         Turn stale bread into breadcrumbs in the oven (the bread should dry out in a few days without heat) or, if you have enough, make an overnight fresh toast casserole. We keep our bread in the refrigerator where it seems to stay fresh longer.

·         Freeze overripe fruit and blend it up in a smoothie later on

·         Freeze leftover lemon, lime or orange skins to make zest for a future recipe

·         Remove the greens from the tops of your vegetables (ex. carrots or beets) before storing them--the greens actually can remove moisture from the veggie itself. In some cases you can cook up the greens (turnips/beets).

·         Store your kale and collards in a container with a damp cloth to retain moisture

·         Remove your bananas from the stem—they actually ripen more quickly when stuck together

·         If you are like me and seldomly use butter, freeze it! It can store for about 6 months.

-     Use bulk bins at your grocer more often to buy just the amount you need for recipes

·         Make a big pot ‘o’ soup—especially appropriate for the chilly winter. This often uses up our last few carrots, potatoes, beans, greens…….you name it, and we have probably made it into soup!

-    This is one I often encourage my patients to do. Put a note on your refrigerator listing what fresh produce you have purchased and how you plan to use it 

·         Compost. I let my husband take care of this after he told me about all of the maggots in our compost bin! With that said, I do not know much about it, but local cooperative extensions frequently offer classes to help get you started.

I snapped a picture of the chili we made tonight to use up leftovers. Some of the ingredients included collards, black beans, carrots, canned  pumpkin and sweet potatoes, among others. It was randomly delicious!