Between 30-40 percent of the United States food supply goes uneaten according to the Food and Drug Administration. Each year, the average American family of four loses $1,500 to uneaten food. Most people don’t realize how often they waste food and the negative impacts it can have on food security, the environment, and climate change. Embrace Food Waste Prevention Week and practice food waste prevention all year long.
Here are tips and recipes on how to reduce food waste:
- Shop the refrigerator before going to the store. Avoid purchasing duplicate items, especially when it comes to perishable items. Taking inventory of your refrigerator prior to going to the store encourages using up food at home before buying more.
- Check product dates. Many consumers misunderstand the purpose and meaning of the date labels that often appear on packaged foods. Confusion over date labeling accounts for an estimated 20 percent of consumer food waste.
- Designate at least one meal weekly as a “use-it-up” meal.
If you have several foods that might go to waste at the same time, try adding them to such adaptable recipes as salads, soups, pasta, and casseroles.- Use leftover vegetables in this delightful Veggie Pasta Salad.
- Slice up leftover rotisserie or chicken breasts to prepare this tasty Chicken Mushroom Spinach Wrap.
- Practice First In – First Out. Move older food products to the front of the fridge/cupboard/freezer and just-purchased ones to the back. This makes it more likely foods will be consumed before they go bad.
- Maintain proper temperatures of your refrigerator and freezer. Keep your refrigerator at 40 °F or below to prolong the life of foods. Keep frozen foods at 0°F or lower to keep foods safe. Freezing temperatures stop the growth of microorganisms while slowing down the chemical reactions that break food down and reduce quality.
- Look for recipes on our recipe portal that can be searched for by ingredients to use up food at home. For example, if you have “broccoli” in your refrigerator:
- Try this Broccoli, Spinach, and Sweet Pea Omelet. Fresh veggies make this easy cheddar cheese omelet a win every time. Leftovers keep well for up to 3 days and can be served warm or chilled.
- Or make this Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry with Brown Rice for all the taste of your fav Chinese dish without all the salt.
- Rather than buy an item for use in only one recipe, check if there might be a suitable substitute already in your fridge/pantry.
For example:- This quick, easy recipe for Pulled Pork Sliders calls for ½ cup of BBQ sauce. If you don’t have any BBQ sauce, make your own. Combine 6 tablespoons of ketchup, 1 tablespoon of mustard and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and you are all set.
- This Crispy Baked Chicken recipe calls for ½ cup of buttermilk. Rather than purchasing a container of buttermilk for a single ½ cup, make your own. Mix ½ Tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to ½ cup or regular milk and allow to stand for 5 minutes.
- If a recipe calls for wine, like this Mediterranean Chicken and Tomatoes dish and you don’t have any on hand, substitute the same volume of apple juice or white grape juice for the white wine.
- If a recipe calls for red wine, substitute cranberry or grape juice.
- Freeze leftovers, fruits and vegetables to enjoy later. Freezing food is easy, quick and convenient. Remember to visit your freezer often. While food will remain safe, the quality of frozen foods may deteriorate over time.
- These high-protein Egg Cups are a great to-go breakfast. They freeze well and when ready to eat, just pop in the microwave for a quick minute.
- Can or dry surplus fresh produce using safe, up-to-date food preservation methods. Home preserved foods can help provide a variety of nutritious meals all year long.
Visit: www.fda.gov/media/107843/download for more information. - Take restaurant leftovers home and refrigerate within two hours of being served. Eat within three to four days or freeze. Remove take home food from your plate at the beginning of the meal so leftovers are as appetizing as the original meal rather than the picked-over remains.
- Check the garbage can. If the same foods are constantly being tossed: Eat them sooner, buy less of them, incorporate them into more recipes or freeze them.
- Donate safe, nutritious food to food banks, food pantries and food rescue programs.
- Consider composting. Composting turns food scraps and yard waste into nutrient-rich soil that can improve plant growth, reduce waste, and fight climate change. To learn more about composting, visit: www.epa.gov/recycle/composting-home
