Reducing food waste
Make this the year you stop wasting food (and money)
Who hasn’t felt the shame of a refrigerator purge? You paid money for all these things, and now you have to throw them away.
Take heart. Reducing food waste is relatively simple and sure to pay off. In fact, a person could save about $370 annually on average by wasting less food, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. And a family of four could pocket an extra $1,500 or so on average in the new year.
Here’s how to waste less food:
1 Start with a fridge cleanout Get a “reality check” on what’s going to waste in your fridge, says Cassie Bartholomew, program manager at StopWaste, a public agency reducing waste in Alameda County, California.
Did you buy an ingredient you never used? More planning before shopping could help. Did you forget about leftovers or produce that’s gone bad? StopWaste’s 10-Minute Fridge Reality Check recommends designating part of the fridge to food that’s quick to spoil. Label that section with an “Eat This First” sign.
A temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below will keep foods safe, according to the Food and Drug Administration, which recommends using a freestanding appliance thermometer. Freezers should be at 0 degrees.
2 Store foods to last Google “how to store produce,” and you’ll learn that some foods should be refrigerated (kiwis, cucumbers), while others shouldn't (bananas, avocados). And some fruits, like apples, release a gas that ripens other produce faster.
Store leftovers and cooked foods so they stay safe and can be identified later. Bartholomew recommends clear, airtight containers with labels that state the food and when it was prepared or stored.
3 Use soon-to-be spoiled food Check your fridge and freezer for foods on the brink of going bad, says Lindsay-Jean Hard, author of “Cooking with Scraps: Turn Your Peels, Cores, Rinds, and Stems into Delicious Meals.”
Wilted vegetables are usually fine for cooking or throwing into a soup. Or roast them now, and freeze them for later, she says.
For those last few slices of bread that are too stale to be appetizing, Hard suggests making them into bread crumbs or croutons. “Then you can add a lot of texture to different types of dishes, like salads or pasta,” she says.