Reduce Your At Home Food Waste
Food connects us with our land and with each other. Respecting our food and protecting where it comes from leads to true nourishment. To show that respect, we strive to be intentional with the food we bring into our homes. It will help the environment and our wallets to eat up as much food as we can and avoid food waste. The average American throws away between 30 - 40% of the food that they purchase. There are many ways to prevent food waste at home - these are our top 5!
5 Ways to Reduce your at home Food Waste
Tip 1: Plan your meal(s) before heading to the market.
Use our Monthly Meal Planning Guide (access to the right!)
Or a dry erase board, weekly planner, or digital planner
Plan ahead so you know how you can use up your ingredients
Tip 2: Schedule in a weekly “catch-all" meal
Catch all meals are meals that are super versatile and easy to toss in any leftover meats or veggies you have chilling in your fridge. Plan one of these into each week to help clear out your fridge of old ingredients before bringing in new.
Catch-All Meals Include:
Fried Rice
Stews
Grain Bowls
Casseroles
Morning Options - Omelets, Quiches, and Breakfast Hash
Tip 3: Only purchase the food you will actually eat.
Hold back from buying a cart full of fresh produce if you won't have time to cook and eat everything. Consider where convenience items could be helpful this week.
Leave room to call an audible
If something is on sale and you want to take advantage or if there’s something that just looks soooo good! You’re going to be excited to eat it, so you’ll actually eat it, but does that mean you could cross something else off of the list?
If the package size available is more than you can eat, consider sharing the excess with a neighbor, friend, coworker, or family member right away.
Tip 4: Freeze unexpected leftovers right away.
When you cook a meal with more servings than you can eat in 2 days, consider freezing the meal immediately.
Create your own convenience freezer meals out what you've already cooked. Portion these meals into single serving before freezing so have more control over how much you thaw at a time.
Tip 5: Experiment with preserving your fresh fruit and veggies.
Pickle leftover vegetables
Ferment into kimchi or slaw for a flavorful garnish
Dehydrate into chips
Make sauces (pesto, chimichurri, gremolata) and freeze
Cook fruits down into a jam or jelly.
Infuse Olive Oil or Alcohol with leftover herbs, spices, citrus peels, fruits, etc.
