9 Ways to Cut Down on Food Waste

Moldy bread. Just-expired yogurt. Furry leftovers. Squishy green beans. They're festering in fridges across the country and headed for the garbage can or disposal. Nearly half of all food in America goes to waste. Setting aside for a minute the "finish your supper, there are starving children in China" implications of this, think of your grocery bill. According to this Associated Press article, the average American household wastes $500 a year on uneaten produce alone. While a lot of our wasted food comes from restaurants and grocery stores, we can easily prevent much of the food in our own homes from making it to the trash—and that way, we'll be getting our money's worth. Here are some tips.

When you're shopping:

—Make a list, and plan meals ahead of time. That way you won't be wondering, "Am I out of balsamic vinaigrette?" only to come home and find a full bottle in your fridge.

—Don't shop hungry. It only increases the chances of making impulse purchases that you won't be able to finish.

—Don't buy in bulk unless you know the item is one you can finish—or one that never goes bad (i.e., toilet paper). A giant tub of butter may seem like a deal but only if you can finish it before the expiration date. Buying in bulk is good for items you can freeze, though—it uses less packaging.

At home:

—Organize your fridge. Often, perfectly good food goes to waste just because it was buried behind the lettuce and the leftovers. Line up your yogurt containers so the ones closest to expiration are in the front. If you see that a bottle of salad dressing is about to expire, put it on the middle of the shelf, so you're reminded to use it more often. When you're putting away new groceries, store them in the back of the fridge.

—Be sure your refrigerator is set to the right temperature (between 35 and 38 degrees) and has good seals on the door.

—Learn how to freeze your food for better storage. Most foods freeze well and can be wrapped in portions to prolong storage and make it easier to pop them in the microwave for a quick lunch. Vegetables freeze best if they are blanched first—find guidelines for blanching here. Meat and fish can be frozen raw or cooked but should be wrapped tightly. Not all foods are ideal for freezing; find a list of things that are better in the fridge here.

—Perfect the art of the last-minute recipe. Learn leftover-friendly recipes that incorporate foods that have only a day or two left before they go bad. Old white rice, for example, is better for fried rice than fresh rice is. Brown bananas can be sliced, sprinkled with honey, and frozen for a snack or can be baked into banana bread. French toast and bread pudding are sweet uses for stale bread.

When it's too late:

—Compost your waste for a better garden. You can start a compost bin or pile in a yard with plenty of space for one, but in-home compost systems are available, too. Yard trimmings and kitchen scraps make excellent compost. Do not compost meat, bones, cheese, salad dressing, or cooking oil.

—Find new uses for spoiled food. Shriveled-up citrus has a lot of uses, particularly as a cleanser. An old lemon can freshen a dishwasher or garbage disposal. A dried-out onion can clean your grill.

More from Fresh Greens:
The Recycling Bin: A Roundup of Green News - Olympic Edition
4 Ways to Earn Cash for Recycling
I'm Not a Plastic Bag

More from U.S. News & World Report:
What Will We Eat in a Hungrier World?
Chain Grocers Put a Face on Food
Why You Need to Make it Home for Dinner

Follow Maura Judkis on Twitter: www.twitter.com/freshgreens

Comments

[eeVas]

I am the mother of 2 boys, one teenager and one pre-teen. The biggest trick for me was figuring out what left overs my kids would eat. The stories of teen boys eating alot is true, but it is also inconsistant. They could eat double portions all week, then the next week they eat single portions.

For me the trick has been figuring out what foods they like as left overs. Fried catfish for example is a favorite meal - but the left overs don't get eaten. So I only make single serving sizes. On the other hand they will eat pasta left overs, so I make a larger portion.

After school I would rather my boys eat leftovers from the night before, than snack foods.

*They are athletic boys, and I teach them to eat until comfortable. I do think healthy eating habits is more important than cleaning a plate.

[HippyGourmet]

This is a fantastic article that provides people with the right messages on how to make use of all the perishable food in their fridges!

Although buying in bulk is not a bad idea, nor is preparing family-style portions for the week ahead to try to save on food costs, but it's important for people to stay on top of their food saving plan, by either freezing or eating through all of their food while it's fresh.

We find that there are also great recipe ideas people can come with, recycling left overs into casseroles and the like.

Peace, Love and Organics! HippyGourmet

[WASanford]

I've started buying my fruits and vegetables at a small produce store in my neighborhood. Last weekend I bought too many peaches, but they were sooo good, and two of them began spoiling before I could get to them. I started to throw them away when I realized that these things had seeds in them and just might grow into peach trees. I live in an apartment complex and have no back yard so I improvised, I threw the rotten fruit into the ground cover around the complex. The ground cover gets water and sun daily and I hope the seeds turn into peach trees. Perhaps someday future tenants will be able to enjoy the great tasting fruit from trees that grew because I refused to just throw those peaches away.