Earth Day 2019: Reducing Your Food Waste

In the spirit of Earth Day 2019, I want to talk to you about how much we waste, especially when it comes to food. Unfortunately, sometimes we all waste food.  We have good intentions when we buy fresh produce, but we don’t always eat it before it goes bad.  Maybe you were inspired to have salads every day this week for lunch, or to try some new vegetarian recipe you found on Pinterest.  Either way you end up with soggy, squishy produce cluttering up your crisper drawer.  Yuck!  It’s not only a mess, but it wastes food and money.  Thankfully we can prevent this from happening with a few quick tips:

1. Meal plan. Take a few minutes on the weekend to plan what you’re going to eat this week.  You don’t have to go crazy, planning everything out in detail.  Maybe you start by only planning one meal per day.  Say you start with dinner, because let’s be honest….it’s the biggest pain to prepare during a busy week.  Choose simple dinners to prepare every night, including ones that can be put into the crockpot or Instant Pot. Knowing what you are doing ahead of time not only reduces wasted food, but it also reduces wasted time!  Write out your meals, then grocery shop for just the items you need to make those meals.  Everything will get used and you will have quick, healthy meals all week.
2. Prep your produce. After shopping, bring home all your produce and prep it.  Wash, dry, chop, and store everything you just bought.  Some things like berries and mushrooms should not be cleaned ahead of time.  They absorb too much water and get mushy really fast.  Instead, prepare everything else and store in reusable containers.  For leafy vegetables and herbs, rinse them in cold water, dry them as much as possible without crushing them, and wrap them in layers of paper towels before putting them into a plastic bag.  This keeps them fresh for at least a week.
3.  Store what you don’t use. Did you buy a whole bunch of parsley but you only needed a tiny bit? Or maybe you only needed half an onion.  Store the leftovers so you can use them later!  Extra veggies can be chopped and either frozen or dehydrated.  Dehydrating sounds complex but it’s really simple.  You can either use an electric dehydrator, or put a single layer of your chopped produce onto a lined cookie sheet and put them in the oven on the lowest temperature for several hours. For herbs, add your chopped herbs to an ice cube tray, fill with olive oil, and freeze.  Once it’s frozen solid, pop them out and store them in an airtight container. Now you have fresh herbs to cook with anytime you’re ready.

The benefits of less wasted food far outweigh the little bit of time you will need to spend implementing these tips.  Not only will you feel healthier, you will feel better about your ability to manage making healthy meals for your family every day.

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