Waste Not

We've all done it: Thrown away bread that got moldy.  Found some kind of produce in the crisper that's turned into a puddle of green goo.  Discovered a container of leftovers from weeks ago in the back of the fridge.  Into the trash it goes!  What a waste!

And believe me, we're not the only ones.  The average home in the US wastes about 470 pounds of food each year.  About 27% of consumable food in this country is thrown away--at the expense of about $600 per year per family.  Crazy, huh?

Why is it so easy to waste food like that?  How many times do we buy more food than we need?  There's a sale, so we pick some up just to forget about it in a few days.  Many times, it's good intentions that result in the waste--we mean to make a nice dinner out of those veggies or that meat, but our busy lives get the best of us and it ends up going bad.

Yup, it's very easy to waste the food, but with just a little work, we can cut back, if not virtually eliminate, our food waste. 

• Of course, my first suggestion would be to hire a personal chef (I hear Dinner's Done PCS is great!).  Seriously, when I cook for clients, I buy just what is needed for that service, so nothing goes to waste--it all just goes into their dishes.
• Plan your meals ahead--before you go shopping.  Then just buy what you will need--and stick to it! 
• Many times, veggies and fruits that are nearing their end can be used for different things.  Use overripe fruit in a smoothie; put some limp veggies in a soup.  If bananas start getting too soft, I put them in the freezer and use them at a later time for breads or muffins. 
• Don't be afraid of leftovers.  Many things taste even better after a day or two.  Be creative--if you don't want to eat the same dish again, use it to create another dish. 
• Rotate your food when you bring it home from the store.  In other words, put the new stuff behind or underneath the food that's already in there.  That way, you're more apt to use the older stuff first.
• Learn the best way to store items in your fridge and freezer.  Wrapping/storing things the proper way will add lots of time to their lives.  And save you money!
• And while we're talking about the fridge--CLEAN IT OUT once in a while!  I go through our fridge once a week.  Not only does this let me find those scary pieces of moldy whatever-they-are, but it gets me familiar with what's in there and helps me to use those things before they go bad. 
• One expert I ready suggests to put the guilt trip on yourself by making a list of every food item that you throw out in a week.  Watch how long that list gets and you will feel guilty.  (One study says that 39% of Americans surveyed feel guilty about wasting food--as opposed to 7% that feel guilty about using chemical fertilizer on their yard.)
• Learn to freeze, pickle, can--whatever it takes to keep from wasting all that food. 

Do you have any tips for slowing down your food waste?  Let me know!

Waste Not

I often tell people that one of the benefits of using Dinner's Done Personal Chef Service is that I only buy the ingredients that I need for the dishes that I'm cooking for them.  There's no waste. 

We've all done it--bought something that we can picture on our dinner table later in the week, but we forget about it.  Later we find it in some sort of decomposed state and have to throw it out. 

According to a recent msnbc.com article, it's estimated by some that as much as 30-50% of the world's food goes uneaten.  In a world rampant with hunger, imagine the impact that this trashed food could have.

The average American throws away an estimated 33 pounds of food each month.  That's a lot of food. 

Some estimates say that about 23% of eggs are trashed.  Even more produce is tossed for a number of reasons.  Some are thrown away because of the above "Forgotten in the Fridge" scenario.  Many fruits and vegetables go unused because they aren't "pretty" enough for sale in markets.  (Another good reason to shop at local farmers' markets.)  And loads of food are scraped off of the plates of restaurant patrons into the garbage can.

We're all guilty of it, but there are ways to avoid wasting food.  Don't buy more than you will use.  If you're buying meats, buy in bulk and freeze portions of it.  Simply being creative with your meals will help you to use those things that may go to waste otherwise. 

How do you avoid wasting food?  Do you have any tips to share?

Waste Not...

I have to pass along a link to a must-read article from the New York Times.  It's titled "From Farm to Fridge to Garbage Can" and it's about how much of the food we buy goes to waste. 

You can read the article, but just a few statistics that are amazing and alarming:

• It's estimated that about 25% of the food produced in this country goes to waste--in the field, in transport, in the grocery store or at home.
• A recent study shows that about 40% of this waste takes place at home.
• In another study, 93% of the respondents said that they bought food that they never use.
• If a family of four wastes 25% of the food they buy each week (at a cost of about $175), it means that they throw away over $40 worth of food each week.  That comes to about $2275 per year.  That's a lot of money.
• Food waste makes up an estimated 19% of landfills in this country.  The food then rots, creating methane (a greenhouse gas) and hurts the environment.

As I jump on my soap box, I have to say that this is ridiculous!  Think of the amount of energy and time it takes to raise this food.  Think of the people all around the world who are dying of hunger.  We complain about the cost of food and then literally throw away a quarter of it.

How can we change our course?  The article mentions a lot of good ideas.  Here are some that they mention and some of my own:

• Freeze meats that you aren't going to eat in a few days.
• Don't be afraid of brown spots or blemishes on fruits and vegetables.  Most of them can be easily cut off, leaving the rest fine to eat.
• Make soup--find a good basic recipe and use those carrots, onions, celery and whatever else is just past its prime.  They'll give whatever flavor they have left instead of being thrown away.
• Plan your meals--buy just what you need to make those meals for the week.  Don't feel like you have to fill your fridge or buy something just because it's on sale.
• Buy local.  Foods that are fresher, last longer.
• Compost.  For those things that do get thrown away, at least use it to help your garden grow and renew the environment.
• At the risk of tooting my own horn, get a personal chef to make your meals.  I buy just what is needed to make the meals I've planned.  I use fresh ingredients immediately after I buy them.  Very little wasted food = very little wasted money. 

This is a very serious problem, but one that we can all help to alleviate if we just use our heads.