Reducing Food Waste
Last year, we our sustainability focus was focused on reducing food waste.
Note: This post has been updated as I’ve discovered more recipes that I love that work with overly ripe fruit or not as fresh veggies.
We were doing a pretty good job of eating mostly plant based, mostly organic, and mostly unprocessed foods. When I shopped, I considered packaging and impact, and we went to our local farmer’s market when we could. I thought we were doing a pretty good job of eating sustainably.
But, every single time I cleaned out the fridge, I was surprised.
We wasted a lot of food.
Like, a lot.
We were doing a pretty good job of buying sustainable foods, but ended up wasting so much that I couldn’t consider what we were doing “sustainable eating.”
So, I started paying attention to what I was throwing away and why.
We would buy something, and then decide to eat out. Or I would over-cook. Or I would just forget that I had something already when I shopped. We would throw away a lot of leftovers.
Mostly, though, I would end up throwing away produce that went bad.
And I was doing this a lot. I was so focused on buying the right thing, but didn’t really think about buying the right mix or reducing what I bought.
So, for our 2015 sustainability focus, I decided to work on reducing our food waste, while still eating what we want to eat, when we want to eat it. It was a way to challenge my inner chef and environmentalist. I was looking forward to finding creative ways to reduce food waste without going to the grocery store every single day, feeling like I was skimping on anything, and eating things I didn’t want to eat.
I had to get creative.
Reducing food waste falls into my favorite category of sustainability: when doing so helps the environment, saves money, saves time, and works better. This doesn’t happen all that often, but when it does, it is the perfect environmental action (like dryer balls!). So, I was excited about it!
If you’re curious about the stats on food waste, take a look here. It is pretty jarring. We didn’t want to be a part of this. I had read that the USDA and the EPA were working on reducing US food waste by 50% by 2030, and I decided that we were going to be a part of that.
Looking back, I think we were pretty successful. We still throw out the occasional bit of lettuce (my worst item), but overall have thrown away significantly less than we did in the past. And we will continue to work on it.
How to Reduce Food Waste:
Take Note
The first thing I did was start really paying attention. When I noticed that we were wasting so much, I started trying to pay attention to what we were wasting and when.
I noticed a few patterns. We mostly wasted food when we went out to dinner when we didn’t plan to (usually because we were too tired to cook or we got a last-minute invite) and we wasted a lot of produce. I was overly optimistic about what we were actually eating and was over-buying.
Not only was I wasting food, but I was wasting a lot of money at the grocery store. Ugh. I hate that. And wasting time cleaning out the fridge. I hate that even more!
Once I realized that one of the big areas that caused food waste was the “I’m too tired to cook, let’s go out” food and the “oh, Bri texted? Yeah, let’s meet them over there” I realized that I could fix a lot of this.
We ended up eating out unexpectedly a lot more often over the weekend. And, if we had leftover food going into the weekend, it usually got thrown away later.
I noticed that we were also much more likely to be too tired to cook later in the week.
These are areas that I think are pretty common, and pretty easy fixes.
Make a Plan
Once I noticed the patter, I began planning around it.
I stopped buying food for the weekend. I also worked into my plan to have leftovers or a “throw together” pantry meal for Thursday. I started making sure that I always had a little pasta on hand, because you can easily make a meal with that if you need to and a few other basics (more on that below).
The other major area of food waste was over-buying. I would buy something we already had or would buy too much of something (usually lettuce or fruit). So, I started making lists (so obvious!). I would check our pantry and fridge before I went to the store. I was not much of a food planner (in fact, I hate making meal plans), but realized that this contributed to our food waste quite a bit.
I was also not considering what was about to go bad when I thought about what to cook. So, I started taking a look in the fridge to see what looked good and what looked not as good, and planned around that (more on that as well below).
Stick With The List
This is hard for me. It is one thing to make the list, but I would find myself veering away from it. Something would look great and I would buy it. I wouldn’t consider what that meant for the rest of the things on my list.
Once you come up with a plan, determine what you already have, you need to make a list. And then stick with it. Just like you do when you shop for clothes, buy only what you need (I know, seems obvious, but I still struggle with this).
Don’t buy anything “just in case.” Only buy what you know you will eat. It is tempting to buy in bulk, but try to resist (unless you know you can eat it or it won’t go bad. I am all for buying grains and nuts in bulk, because they store well, but perishables is a bad idea for us).
And I had to remember, that if I did buy something on impulse because it looked good, I needed to put something else back.
If you do find a great deal on something perishable, make a plan to freeze it before it goes bad. Or to make a big batch of something that you can eat later. But, it is usually better to resist the urge to buy too much.
Freeze It
When you are looking in your fridge and making your plan, if you see something that is about to go bad, freeze it, if possible. Or throw together a recipe that can be frozen.
You can avoid throwing away all kinds of fruits and veggies if you just figure out quick recipes that can be easily frozen. A few of my favorites are:
- My super easy, super delicious applesauce.
- Any kind of soup.
- Smoothie bundles.
- Blanched veggies (these make a great side dish when you don’t have time to make something).
- Veggie leftovers for soups (link to post re: putting food scraps in a bag for soup dishes)
- Herbs in ice cube trays for quick one meal uses.
For a few of my favorite recipes to reduce food waste, take a look here.
Plan For Leftovers
When you are making your meal plan and grocery list, put some room in for leftovers and unexpected plans. I will usually shop for three or four days (update to 2019 with kids – five days), but put in a cushion for a skipped meal at home. I won’t plan for lunches and will either eat leftovers or will find something (this is where some of that frozen stuff comes in handy).
If you don’t like leftovers, try to get creative with ways to repurpose them. Sometimes there isn’t enough for a full meal, so try to create something new with additional ingredients. Veggies can always be added to a stir fry, a breakfast scramble, or a quinoa bowl the next day. Tacos, stews, or salad toppings are another great mini-meal leftover use.
Get Creative With Your Soggy Produce
One of the things that I noticed is that I would see something in the fridge that looked like it was about to go bad, and I would procrastinate on using it. It just wasn’t exciting and so I wouldn’t eat it. Then, it would definitely go bad.
So, I came up with a few recipes that are “soggy” food friendly.
- Kitchen sink pasta sauce
- Lettuce soup
- Herb butter
- Soffrito
- Smoothies
- Arugula pesto
Take a look at all of my waste reducing recipes here.
Buy More “Use the Whole Veggie” Veggies
Some foods are inherently wasteful, others are not. Buy less of those that are wasteful and more of those that are not. You eat most of the apple, but throw away quite a bit of the banana. You can eat the skin of an acorn squash but probably aren’t interested in a pumpkin’s rind.
I am not suggesting you give up butternut squash (I would never!). It is just something to consider when shopping. Ask yourself how much of the food is going to be eaten and how much will get thrown away (no matter what), and favor those with inherently less waste.
Use the “Garbage”
If you can’t live without the more wasteful foods, find ways to use the waste! There are a few unexpected ways to use some of the parts of the fruits and veggies that are traditionally garbage.
Some of my favorite include:
- Carrot top pesto
- Strawberry greens smoothie (yes, the greens can be added to any smoothie! Just throw the entire berry in!)
- Strawberry tops spa water (when I cut up strawberries for lunch, I use the tops to make a delightful spa water)
- Broccoli stalk dippers (updated 2019: this is a kid favorite! Just add ranch – my motto!)
- Scrap broth
- Herb butter
- Panzanella
- Croutons
- Flavored Salts (also a great gift idea)
- Cheese rinds : throw into soup
Find a couple go to recipes that are delicious and use up the goods you haven’t been able to. For more great recipes, take a look at The Kitchn’s list.
Buy Things that Might Otherwise Go To Waste
And prevent it from going into the trash in the first place.
Lastly, there are a few options to buying food to prevent waste before it even gets to your home. And, to me, these are probably the most effective from a global perspective, both by reducing waste now but also creating demand.
Go to the farmer’s market at the end. Sometimes, the vendors will toss what they can’t bring to the next market. It is a good time to get a deal and to walk away with a few items that might have otherwise gone in the trash. It is also usually a little quieter, and (if you’re like us), gives you some time to sleep in on a Saturday.
Consider Imperfect Produce. Imperfect sends you produce (and now groceries) that may have been thrown away, but are perfectly delicious. They usually include misshapen veggies or off-sized fruit, surplus produce or extra-colorful grains.
The amount of produce that is wasted each year (20 billion pounds, unsold or unharvested) is staggering. Imperfect helps you chip away at that number.
And they deliver! So, one less errand, some weeks. You can pick your selection, so you aren’t stuck with food you won’t eat, and it is often a bit cheaper (even for organic) than a grocery store (win!).
While we are still throwing food away (and constantly working on it), we have gotten better. Just being aware of the problem has helped immensely. And, like everything else, it is a journey for us.
What are you doing to reduce food waste? Have you tried any of these tips?
