SAVE MONEY BY REDUCING FOOD WASTE

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The numbers aren't pretty. In a given year, between forty and fifty percent of food ready for harvest in the U.S. never gets eaten. Just disposing of uneaten food costs us upwards of one billion dollars a year. Even scarier, the amount of food wasted annually in this country equals 2% of our national energy consumption. It's the rough equivalent of throwing away 350 million barrels of oil.


350 million barrels of oil. Two percent of our energy consumption. More than all the ethanol produced in the United States in an entire year. Wasted.

In this country of plenty, it's easy to forget the carbon costs of wasted food. Every calorie started as a seed, somewhere, sown into the ground and fertilized (on large farms) with fossil-fuel powered machinery. If you're buying food from small farms, you have someone's sweat, callouses, and sturdy backs to thank for your lettuce. Food gets schlepped across the country in enormous, refrigerated trucks, and driven home in our personal automobiles. After all the time, money, energy, and fossil fuels going into dinner, it's ecologically insulting to think it might end up wasted.

No one is innocent, either. We've all encountered moldy things in Tupperware containers. We've all beheld an ex-cucumber, in all its liquefied glory, lounging in the bottom of the fridge. Milk goes bad, pantry moths invade, fruit flies conquer the fruit bowl. While it may not be possible to avoid the occasional spoiled salad, there are many ways to reduce your family's food waste.

Step one: Plan before you shop. I started meal planning in my family about a year ago. It's been a tremendous success, and has saved countless calories from the compost. I usually plan everything out on Sunday evenings. I start by poking my head in the fridge and pantry, and making a list of what's on hand. In the summer, I also walk over to the garden and see what's ready to eat. I write it all down. Sometimes listing what's available is enough to get kitchen inspiration: I see white beans and winter squash, and immediately remember my favorite bean-stuffed-squash recipe. It allows me to streamline, too. If I'm going to be steaming rice for a stir fry on Tuesday, I'll throw in an extra cup for a rice pilaf with the chicken on Sunday. Cook once, eat twice. It's that simple.



Step two: Resist the Impulse. Meal planning makes it easy to come up with a shopping list, and having a shopping list makes it easier to avoid impulse buys in the store. Impulse buys, it turns out, are the number-one most-wasted food item. In our house, I trust the shopping to my husband, who hates grocery shopping with a purple passion. He goes in to combat mode: get in, get out as quickly as possible. No perusing the pineapple pyramids, no browsing. It's a huge time and money saver.

Step three: Fresh isn't always best. Once you've begun to work your way into weekly meal planning, turn your thoughts towards buying less-perishable foods. Fresh vegetables are chronic wilters: some look more like compost than dinner by the time you've brought them home. Tomatoes bruise. Green beans wither. By choosing more durable items-- frozen spinach instead of fresh, or canned tomatoes over vine-ripened-- you're picking a more convenient, less perishable, (and often cheaper) version. And the good news is, frozen and canned foods are just as healthy.

Step four: Versatility is Key. Relying on simple staples instead of fancy processed foods is an easy way to reduce waste. Case in point: flavored pasta mixes. Plain pasta can fit into just about any meal, whereas a teriyaki-flavored noodle mix sits around in the pantry, waiting for Asian dinner night. Simple stuff like plain oatmeal, brown rice, pasta, and dried beans form the backbone of our pantry. They're cheap, they last a long time, and we eat them weekly. This ensures the turnover stays quick, and things don't sit around on the shelves. Things that sit around tend to get tossed. We've all been there.

Step five: Wrap it Right. Storing what you buy correctly can make it last a lot longer. Everyone knows to refrigerate meat and dairy ASAP, but did you know that tomatoes keep better at room temperature? By tossing a damp cloth or paper towel into the lettuce bag and tying it shut, you can get your lettuce to stay fresh for a week or more. Most vegetables love humidity, so place a clean, wet sponge in your produce drawer and everything will stay happy. Nuts and seeds (like sunflower seeds) are best refrigerated, as is wheat flour. The residual fats contained in the flour can go rancid if stored at room temperature.

Step six: Freeze, dry, or can it. If you've made too much of something, the easiest way to keep it from spoiling (second only to eating it) is to freeze it. Freezers work best when they're full, so fill 'er up and save your food as well as your energy bill. With a little planning, excess produce (whether from garden or farmstand) can be canned or dried for use in the winter. Canning and drying is a terrific way to eat seasonally year-round. Be sure and check out our canning equipment and food dehydrators. We have everything you need for home food preservation in our shop.

Step seven: Get creative. Got something that's looking a little long in the tooth? See the list below for creative uses for common leftovers.

Sour milk: Makes a terrific addition to baked goods (buttermilk pancakes, anyone?) or can be made into yogurt.

Stale bread: Make breadcrumbs in your food processor, or make bread pudding, croûtons, stuffing, or use it to thicken soups.

Cooked plain pasta: Add to beaten eggs and vegetables for a quick frittata, or use in soups.

Cooked plain rice: Make rice pudding. Even better, make tomato-rice or chicken and rice soup.

Parmesan "rinds:" I always save the hard outer portion of a parmesan cheese rind to use in soup. You won't believe the depth of flavor it adds to a pot of minestrone.

Vegetable tops and trimmings; meat bones: Cook everything in a big pot of water for two hours with a little salt, pepper, and dried herbs, and you've got stock, which can be used in anything from soups to risottos.

Applesauce, pumpkin puree, mashed potatoes, sweet potato: Try subbing 1/2 cup fruit or vegetable puree for 1/2 of oil in your favorite baked good recipe. It'll add flavor and moisture, not to mention nutrition.

To sum it up: While no one is immune to the occasional food spoilage mishap, there are many easy and creative ways to reduce your food waste. Aside from the environmental benefits mentioned above, it's a tremendous money-saver, and starting meal planning will save you time, as well.

And speaking of environmental benefits, I'll leave you with one more to chew on: If everyone changed out all their light bulbs for compact fluorescents, the energy saved wouldn't compare to the energy we would save if we stopped wasting food.

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