Roughly one-third of food produced is wasted, both globally and in the United States, contributing to the growing crisis of climate change, environmental degradation, and loss of biological diversity while the number of people facing food insecurity rises. Reducing food waste is a key step individuals can take to not only save money but also shrink their environmental footprint.
EcoAction Arlington’s Food Waste Reduction Campaign offers tips and inspirations to make progress within our community.
written by: Kai Robertson
So far, we’ve covered the importance of food waste, tips for when you hit the grocery store, and how to best use your fridge to give the food you’ve bought its best life. For this article, we’ll focus on how to overcome the inevitable fridge blindness, use up all those groceries and ensure no forgotten leftovers mold away at the back of the fridge.
Source: Alameda County, CA StopFoodWaste
See the meal
Keeping track of what’s in your fridge and what’s still good to eat is a first step. When you store leftover meals or ingredients, slap on some tape and the date so your future self has a sense for how long it’s been in the fridge. You can trust your senses to judge whether food is still good. If it smells and tastes good, it usually is. The vast majority of products outlast the date on the label (if stored properly of course).
Imagine the options – shop your fridge and pantry
While seeing is key, so is inspiration. Besides the easy button of reheating leftover meals, there’s the question of what to do with leftover odds and ends and how to add some zing to a prior meal.
Need help with using the ingredients in your fridge (or pantry) to make a quick meal?
There are some fabulous websites with recipes and other tips online to give all your food a chance at being eaten.
Home cooking apps allow you to search for recipes based on ingredients already in your kitchen so you can make the most of what’s in your fridge, freezer or pantry. Try one or all of these:
Condiments and spices are a great solution for transforming any meal and play a starring role in the magic of delicious leftovers.
Mayonnaise is but one example, with the Hellmann’s brand tapping into the potential to make the most of surplus food by giving consumers a suite of ideas and tools.
Join the #MakeTasteNotWaste trend
Check out the Hellmann’s website for ideas like celebrating Friday Fridge Meals, turning “Big Game” leftovers into a tasty next-day meal, and finding recipes for common leftovers like veggies, chicken, potatoes, bread and cheese.
Scraps and past-their-prime foods still have value
Fruits and vegetables that are beyond ripe may not look great, but they’re still delicious in recipes. You can blend, bake or boil most anything. Try using wilted, brown, or scarred produce in a smoothie, bread, jam, sauce, or soup. Chop up the stalks from your veggies and herbs — whether broccoli, cauliflower, kale or cilantro — and saute in a bit of oil, or just roast, steam or blend as you would for the main attraction.
The Flexipe Library includes a wealth of great ideas! You can link to a multitude of tasty ways to prepare “clear-out-the-fridge dinners and lunches.” Or, filter by ingredient (apple cores or beet greens anyone?) to get creative in using all parts of food. Also providing great food for thought is the Storage & Revival Guide on the Save More than Food website with practical use-up options for produce, dairy, eggs and bread.
For more creative cooking options to use “scraps” like bones, peels, stems, and seeds, visit the Save the Food website. The options are limitless — from zucchini vine stem pasta to a dressing made with aquafaba (chickpea liquid) and potato peel snack.
When you love your leftovers, you can save money, tap into your creative potential, make something delicious, and honor the labor, love, and resources it took to grow and get food to your home in the first place.
EcoAction Arlington’s Food Waste Reduction Campaign 2024 is curated by the Advocacy committee and the R4 Action Group.This content also appeared in EcoAction Arlington’s monthly newsletter and The EcoAdvocate newsletter produced by the EcoAction Arlington Advocacy Committee.