TIPS FOR REDUCING FOOD WASTE

WHY REDUCING FOOD WASTE IS IMPORTANT

Most of us were taught not to waste food because there are people without an abundance of food like we have. We should definitely be grateful for our food. And it is important to realize that we are lucky to not have to worry about getting fed. However, the one thing that I don’t think is talked about a lot is the cost of wasting food.

Picture yourself throwing money in the trash every time you are throwing out uneaten leftovers. Or when you have to toss out produce that went bad because you didn’t use it in time. I never understand when I see people not get their leftovers wrapped after a meal at a restaurant.  It kills me!

ZERO FOOD WASTE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THE RESULT

I do think it’s important to acknowledge that wasting food really is a big waste of money. But at the same time, you don’t want to be traumatized when you do have to throw food away. Being perfect and having zero food waste is nearly impossible. The goal is to use up as much of the food that we purchase as possible.

Even when trying to make sure that everything gets used up, something ends up needing to be thrown out. Maybe the produce you bought was not as fresh as you thought and went bad much quicker than expected. Or you shoved leftovers to the back of the fridge and no one saw it until it was too late. Maybe you had so many leftovers from dinner to use for lunches that the lunchmeat you bought never got eaten.

Regardless of the reason, food waste does happen.  I have been trying to be more accepting of this because it bothers me so much the times when I do have to throw food out. So, I think if we are doing all that we can to not waste food, it’s important to remind ourselves of that when we do have to toss something in the trash.

MEAL PLANNING

In my experience, one of the most helpful tips for reducing food waste has been planning our meals. I think just due to the nature of going through the process of planning what you are going to eat and purchasing just the things that you need to make those meals, really helps make sure that everything that you purchased gets used.

The biggest tip that I have for meal planning is to shop from your freezer or pantry first to see what you already have. Maybe you have some frozen meat, frozen vegetables, canned vegetables, dry rice, or pasta. Put some meals into your meal plan that use up as many of those items as you can. Not only does this help make sure food does not go to waste, but it eliminates that frustration when you go to put a box of pasta that you just purchased away to see that you already had several boxes of pasta.

TIMING YOUR MEAL PLAN

Plan to cook more perishable items earlier in the week and things that last longer later in the week. Use fresh vegetables and fruit that expire quickly first and ones that last longer later in the week. When possible, buy frozen fruits and vegetables. They won’t go bad and they are actually just as good for you. Then you don’t have to worry about them going bad, but still, make sure to use them up.

If you have to skip a meal that was on the plan, reassess your meal plan and shift things around if needed to make sure you use up the perishable items. For example, if you were making a salad with fresh spinach on a night that you ended up not cooking for whatever reason, plan to use up the fresh spinach the next day or as soon as possible.

I try not to have too many meals using fresh ingredients so that I have some flexibility in switching things around.  So, if today I was going to be using fresh spinach today, but tomorrow I was going to be doing a frozen vegetable, I will use the fresh spinach tomorrow and use the frozen vegetable another time since it will not go bad.

CHECK YOUR FRIDGE ON A DAILY BASIS TO SEE WHAT NEEDS TO BE USED UP

Maybe you have some sour cream, or cheese, too many eggs, whatever it might be. It’s a good idea to stay on top of what is in your fridge and do your best to plan how to use it up. If you have too many eggs, maybe make some hard-boiled eggs to use for lunch, snacks or to add to salads. If you have too much American cheese, make some grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch one day.

Take note to see if you have lunchmeat that needs to be used up, certain lunchmeats can be frozen.  One lunchmeat that freezes well is ham.  Sometimes, it does get slightly watery when defrosted, but it’s great to use for ham and eggs or something like that.  Or to add to a grilled cheese sandwich.

Also, check if there are any leftovers you can use as sides with other meals. I try to store all of my leftover side dishes in microwave-safe containers so that I can just pop them in the microwave and put them back out with our next meal.  Usually, at least some of it will get eaten.

Even if the leftovers were the main dish, like say, a couple of leftover pork chops.  Sometimes, I’ll heat those up and put them out with another meal.  Usually, someone will grab some of whatever extra sides are put out, even if they are not a traditional side dish. Just try to be creative in ways you can use up what you have.

STORE FOOD IN A WAY THAT PROMOTES LESS FOOD WASTE

Try to organize your foods in a way to make it easy to see what you have. By keeping like items together, you can quickly see how many boxes of pasta, rice, cans of corn, vegetables, etc. that you have on hand.

For me, the most challenging food storage in the past was in our chest freezer. Whenever I buy a package of meat, usually I buy a bigger package to get a better price.  So, I will divide the package up into portions so that the excess can be saved for later weeks. But, when I would put things in the chest freezer they would kind of get lost in there, and I could never really figure out what I had in there.  So, I often purchased things like chicken breast, that I already had in the freezer.

I looked for some tips on how to keep a chest freezer organized. The one tip that I ended up using was to use the reusable grocery bags to group like items together.  So, for example, I have one for chicken breast, one for ground beef, etc.  I can just look in the various bags to see what I had. By using light-colored bags, I could write with a sharpie on the bags what they held. I can now easily lift the bags out and see exactly what I have in them. No more finding a freezer-burned package of chicken a year after buying it!

FREEZING FOODS

Many leftovers can be frozen, but you need to freeze them before it’s too late. If you have a lot of leftovers that are unlikely to be eaten, then consider freezing them right away. Some things that freeze well are chili, pulled pork, French Dip, pasta sauce, and soups. Try to freeze them in small enough portions so that they will be all eaten when defrosted. These can be perfect for lunch on a weekend, or a quick meal on a busy night!

Thanks so much for checking in! If you would like to hear the podcast version of this topic to check out Lola’s Frugal Life Podcast! Also, be sure to check out my other blog posts on this site!