food waste is a huge problem. the united states generates 34 million tons of food waste each year. that's a lot of food that could have gone to feed hungry people, not to mention the negative environmental impacts. (such as food rotting in landfills, which doesn't really decompose so easily, and then creates methane gas.) so this is a problem that I'm always sad to see myself being a part of when I clean out my fridge or fresh produce bin on my countertop... so much waste. it hurts my heart.
so this year I am going to try and make a more conscience effort to eat what I buy. (or grow.) so far so good, eleven days into the new year. I see something in my fridge that is pushing the limit and I find something to make with it. I'm happy to say that I don't think I'll have to throw out any produce from my last shopping trip. hurrah!
I'm also going to try and be better about composting. in the past I would just throw all my kitchen scraps into an old plastic container (the kind you get nuts in from costco. it works perfectly!) and just throw them in our county yard waste recycling bin at the end of the day. well, it seems I got a little lazy (early pregnancy might have had something to do with that!) and out of the habit. one day I may even try and step it up a notch and start our own composting pile in our backyard. the garden would love it.
another thing I used to do with kitchen scraps was freeze them in a large ziplock bag as I went, saving them up to make veggie stock from scratch. it works perfectly and is so easy. again, I got lazy somewhere along the way and haven't done it in years. maybe I should start that up again, too.
so let's all resolve to eat our food this year. waste is so 2011.
info source: epa stats
image source: perfect gardening tips
(check out their list of tips to reduce food waste)
3 comments:
i attempted composting once but the kids played in it too much. i tried to convince my hubby to get the composting ball thing from costco, but no luck yet. i definitely need to work on less waste. i hate eating leftovers. luckily tom will usually take leftovers most days for lunch and i've gotten fairly good at cooking the right amount to cover dinner and one leftover lunch.
with bountiful baskets, i end up wasting some produce every couple of weeks. sometimes i just don't know what to do with 5 giant yellow squashes.
great ideas. i resolve to waste less this year. thanks for the motivation.
so i put the resolve to action today. i decided to have stuffing for dinner to use up all the ends of bread i have (enough to fill a big mixing bowl) and celery that is nearing its useful life. for lunch we used up all the super ripe fruit sitting on the counter. let's see if i can keep this ball rolling.
Hey I am so with you on wasting food. Drives me crazy! Remember that lots of food can be cut up and frozen for later use. Like onions, fruit, veggies, etc. And you can always cut stuff up, steam it, puree it, then freeze it for future recipes. Like carrot and pepper and tomato purees can be added to soups and lots of good recipes. Just a few tricks I've learned since I hate wasting it too! And congrats on your baby girl! Good luck with the labor and all that!
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