Eat what you have, only buy what you need
An expired date on an egg carton; browning avocados; the Chinese takeout from last week: They’re all foods likely destined for the trash. If you’re hoping to reduce household food waste, experts say there are two key things to do: Eat what you have and buy only what you need.
Practising smarter shopping is not only green for its environmental impact; it saves you money. “People need to really think through whether they need to be buying as much food as they are,” said Jonathan Deutsch, a professor of culinary arts and food science at Drexel University in Philadelphia and author or editor of six books on food management.
We can rethink what we define as waste, Deutsch pointed out. A bruised apple or the green leaves encasing a head of cauliflower can be easily repurposed into a sauce or side dish.
“A good cook can make a good meal out of what’s already in most people’s houses,” he said. “Make sure you’re buying only what you need, and then be sure to use it.”
The world’s food-waste problem is well-documented and multi-faceted. Some estimates put global waste at 30 per cent of all food. This is in spite of the 795 million people suffering from chronic hunger, according to numbers from the United Nations. Food waste that isn’t composted piles up in landfills. Fortunately, there are ways to make your grocery shopping more environmentally friendly. Buying expired or “last-chance” produce at the supermarket is one way Jule Eisendick, 38, reduces waste. Eisendick has been practising a low- to zero-waste lifestyle while travelling, and writes about it on her blog, The Happy Choices. “I only buy fresh produce when the old one is gone,” she said, adding she tries to use every part of a fruit or vegetable. She might make chips with leftover potato peels, or throw remaining carrot and beet tops into a salad. “What I don’t use goes into compost.”
Much of the food waste problem starts in the supply chain. Tons of misshapen, small or bruised produce is left in the field. Sometimes, markets have too much of one particular food so the rest could get tossed by the wholesaler. And it’s common for grocery stores to reject foods that don’t look like what the customer expects.
In the last few years, however, a secondary market for these “rejects” has arisen. Now they can be donated or sold.
Two such companies are Misfits Market, based in Philadelphia, and Imperfect Produce, from San Francisco. Both have partnered with farmers to rescue rejected produce. Customers sign up online for a delivered box of funny-looking fruits or veggies. The box is then delivered to their front doorsteps.