COOK WITH YOUR FOOD SCRAPS
Don’t toss those potato peels! Save those onion ends! I’m serious- all these things can be turned into seriously delicious homemade treats.
Have some baby greens or spinach that are wilted in your fridge? If they aren’t good for salad anymore, cook them! Throw them in spaghetti with brown butter or sauté them with garlic and lemon.
Save your vegetable scraps and/or chicken bones to make homemade vegetable stock or homemade chicken stock. It tastes SO much better than store-bought, and it’s basically free to make!
Grow food from kitchen scraps! Green onions, carrots, potatoes, celery, garlic, and countless other scraps can be grown in your garden or in a jar in your kitchen for free produce all year long! Here’s 15 foods you can regrow from scraps. [1]
Freeze Leftover Herbs
If you find yourself with more fresh herbs than you can use, they don't have to slowly wilt in the fridge until they're beyond help: rosemary, thyme, cilantro, sage, basil, or whatever else you have on hand can be frozen for future use.
Make sure to thoroughly wash and dry the herbs, and prepare them the way you normally would before eating (stems removed, spoiled pieces discarded, etc.). Finely chop and press into each "cube" of an ice tray. Top them off with olive oil and freeze. Once solid, the cubes can be removed from the tray and stored in a freezer bag.
The cubes can be tossed directly into a pan for sautéing vegetables, or melted to dress a salad.
Even fresh ginger can be frozen – either shaved and stored in ice trays for individual servings, or peeled and frozen whole to be grated as needed. [2]
Understand Food Labelling
There’s a big difference between “best before” and “use-by” dates. Sometimes food is still safe to eat after the “best before” date, whereas it’s the “use-by” date that tells you when it is no longer safe to eat. Check food labels for unhealthy ingredients such as trans fats and preservatives and avoid foods with added sugar or salt. [3]
Toss Mishmash Items Together
Toss a mishmash of items into a tortilla or in fried rice or pasta salad. You can also sauté wilted lettuce with butter and garlic. Even if you waste a little bit less, it’s still an accomplishment. [4]
Avoid Buying Too Much
One of the simplest ways to avoid food waste as a consumer is to buy less.
A packed fridge may look appealing, but it may lead to food waste if the household cannot eat all of the food.
Taking a couple of shorter trips to the grocery store each week rather than one longer trip may prevent people from buying too much food and help cut back on waste. [5]
[1] Lindemann, Elizabeth. "10 Ways to Reduce Food Waste." Bowl Full of Delicious, 17 August 2021, https://www.bowlofdelicious.com/reduce-food-waste/
[2] Harris, Linnea. "12 Creative Ways to Cutdown on Food Waste in Your Kitchen." EcoWatch, 17 August 2021, https://www.ecowatch.com/zero-food-waste-tips-2650600167.html
[3] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Editorial Staff. "15 quick tips for reducing food waste and becoming a Food hero." Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 17 August 2021, http://www.fao.org/fao-stories/article/en/c/1309609/
[4] Wikiel, Yolanda. "How to Reduce Food Waste in Your Home, According to One of the World's Top Experts." Real Simple, 17August 2021, https://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/shopping-storing/food-waste-in-america
[5] Medical News Today Editorial Staff. "How to Reduce Food Waste." Medical News Today, 17August 2021, https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/327325