Waste Not, Want Not: A Bounty of Food for All

I can remember when my Italian family would roast a chicken for Sunday dinner.  After we broke bread, the leftover meat from the bird was used to make chicken salad for the next day’s lunches, and the carcass was tossed in a pot of water along with sliced onions and simmered to make chicken soup.  That one bird kept giving and giving.  

Back then, food was not wasted.  It was reinvented in another format for another day.  Decades ago we called this being frugal or thrifty.  But this type of frugality is starting to become trendy.  

Why?   According to a report by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) Foundation, over one third of all food procured in America goes uneaten each year only to be tossed into our landfills.   Americans are throwing out 50 percent more than they did 40 years ago, the equivalent of tossing about 300 pounds of food annually into our trash bins.  Yet, according to AND, 49 million Americans are food insecure.   In essence, we are feeding our landfills while are neighbors are going hungry at dinner.

While reducing food waste needs to occur at each link of the “farm to fork” chain, which includes farmers, food processors, suppliers, and eating establishments, we as consumers need to do our part to reduce food waste.   Consider these tips:

At Restaurants:

• Don’t leave your half-eaten meal at the restaurant with the check and tip. Take home everything that you don’t finish on your plate. Think of this in terms of time management.  If you enjoyed it for dinner at the restaurant, you are going to really enjoy it the next night when you don’t have to cook dinner from scratch.

At Supermarkets:

• Since one of the primary area of food waste at grocery stores is fresh fruits and veggies, help supermarkets reduce their waste by buying their marked down produce. There is typically a rack of Mother Nature’s finest located in the back of the produce aisle for a fraction of their original price.  I recently visited my local supermarket and found pricey tomatoes and orange peppers for a steal at less than 80 cents a pound.  With a little pureeing in my  blender along with other veggies in my refrigerator, I made a killer gazpacho:

   At Home:

• Invest in a bunch of freezer/microwave safe covered containers and immediately freeze any leftovers you not going to eat within three days. Declare one night a month as “Freezer Buffet Night.”   Microwave all the leftovers for a smorgasbord dinner.      

Since you will be recycling your leftovers into another meal and spending less on produce and food at the supermarket, donate some of your weekly savings in the form of food stuffs to your local food pantry. 

Your town landfill may go hungry but not your neighbors.

Be well, Joan

Twitter: @JoanSalgeBlake