[2021-08-21] Reducing food waste

I hate wasting food. I think that comes from growing up on a farm in a large family. We consumed and preserved large quantities of food from our garden, orchard and surroundings.

Lately, I've been researching ways to further reduce food waste (How to reduce food waste, 20 Easy Ways to Reduce Your Food Waste, Healthy eating and the environment) and wanted to share some of the tips I found. I haven't mastered all the techniques presented here, but the more I talk about something, the more likely I am to do it myself.

  1. Avoid buying too much. It was easy to overbuy when shopping only once every week or two during pandemic lockdowns. Our philosophy was often better to have too much than to run out. I've now made it part of my routine to stop by my local Farm Boy at the end of my morning walk. The store is often quiet at 9:30 a.m. I buy just what I need for that day, knowing that I can go back the next day.
  2. Shop with a list. I keep lists in the Google Keep app for the various stores we shop at (e.g., Costco, Bulk Barn, grocery stores), adding items as soon as I see that our stock is low or depleted. Increasingly, I'm buying rarely used items only when I need them for a specific recipe, rather than to have a well-stocked pantry of ingredients that may go bad before I have time to use them.
  3. Organize your kitchen using the FIFO method. FIFO stands for "first in, first out"—a new term for me. I place the newest items at the back of my fridge or cupboard and older items at the front. This is especially important for the items we buy in bulk, such as almond milk.
  4. Store foods correctly. Before researching this post, I didn't know that cucumbers should be stored at room temperature (in addition to tomatoes, potatoes, garlic and onions). I knew that some foods produce ethylene gas, which promotes ripening, but didn't know to keep such foods (e.g., bananas, avocados, tomatoes, cantaloupes, peaches, pears, green onions) away from ethylene-sensitive produce (e.g., potatoes, apples, leafy greens, berries, peppers).
  5. Make a weekly meal plan. Knowing what I'll make for the upcoming week helps me avoid just-in-case buying. Do I need one pepper or that six-pack from Costco? It all starts with a meal plan. I also try to make meals that use the same perishable ingredient, such as herbs, so that I can use up the item before it turns into green sludge at the bottom of my vegetable crisper.
  6. Use perishable items first. I love the convenience of prewashed lettuce in clam shells, but find that such produce spoils very quickly, so I try to incorporate these into my meals within a day or two of buying them.
  7. Note foods that regularly spoil. I often find myself throwing out half a jar of roasted red peppers, so I'm now opting for a smaller jar even if the cost per millilitre is greater than it is with a larger jar.
  8. Exercise portion control. In our house, it's easy for us to get carried away making a huge salad only to find that it's more than the four of us can eat. One way around this is to build the salads in individual serving bowls or plates.
  9. Be picky about what you buy in bulk. I've stopped buying certain items at Costco because I don't use them often enough, such as a six-pack of coconut milk. Better to buy the one can of coconut milk I need, when I need it, than the extra five that will languish in and clutter up my pantry.
  10. Make and freeze large batches of foods to use up ingredients before they go bad. Many foods are freezer-friendly—from soup to pasta sauce to chili to stock. They are also a terrific way to use up ingredients that are getting a little tired, such as vegetables.
  11. Maintain an inventory of pantry and freezer items. It's easy to lose track of what one has stored in a pantry or freezer, especially with deep cupboards or a chest freezer. A few years ago, we replaced our old chest freezer with a new stand-up model, which makes it so much easier to see what we have on hand. When I'm able to keep my inventory up to date (which, admittedly, isn't all the time), I can consult it on my phone (it's also in Google Keep) when I'm at the grocery store.
  12. Eat leftovers. From time to time, I keep a list of leftovers on the door of the fridge so that they don't get forgotten at the back of the fridge. We also sometimes make what I call "TV dinners," which are individually sized, complete meals; we store them in clear glass containers, ready to pop in the microwave. Anything in an opaque container is easily lost in the shuffle. When our leftovers get too numerous, we'll designate one dinner as a use-up-the-leftovers meal.
  13. Label everything. My husband had a habit of making a fresh batch of Caesar Salad Dressing every time he made the salad. Once I started labeling leftover quantities of dressing with its name and the date it was made, I could say, "Don't make more dressing. We have lots." Labeling also eliminates the frustration of figuring out whether a container of grated cheese is Cheddar or Monterrey Jack.
  14. Make clear-out-the-fridge soup, salad, stir-fries or smoothies. Sometimes I like to pull out all the bits and pieces that can be turned into a soup, salad, stir-fry or smoothie. Or I'll look for inspiration from recipe sites that allow me to search recipes by specific ingredients, such as Allrecipes.com.
  15. Share the wealth. Occasionally, I'll make a big batch of something to use up ingredients before they spoil and share the excess with others.

Reducing food waste not only helps you save money, but also helps the environment. According to Canada's Food Guide,

In Canada, large amounts of food are wasted every year. Food waste can happen at all levels of the food supply system. However, almost half of all food waste happens at home. When food is thrown out as garbage, it ends up in landfills and can produce the greenhouse gas methane. Food that is not eaten also means that the land, soil and water needed to produce the food were wasted.

Another benefit of avoiding food waste is that many of the habits that help you achieve this objective, such as making a weekly meal plan and using up fruits and vegetables, can lead to healthier food choices.

Tonight's visual highlights two successes in reducing food waste from the past week. I made Melon Butter from a too-ripe cantaloupe and Quick Tomato Sauce from my sister's tomato harvest. I shared the Melon Butter with my mom and sister, and I'm returning some of the tomato sauce to my sister in exchange for more tomatoes.

Making preserves and removing the skin from the fresh tomatoes are two things I haven't done in many years. It felt like I was back on the farm again.