Actions to Reduce Food Waste

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, in 2010 alone, more than 34 million tons of food waste was generated, with only three percent diverted from landfills and incinerators for composting. Reducing the amount of wasted food has significant economic, social and environmental benefits, including reducing methane from landfills, reducing resource use, lowering costs, and getting food to the people who need it.

Most people recognize that they waste some of their food, but haven’t put effort into reducing it. The goal of the Year of Action’s Food Waste Actions is to raise awareness about this topic, and empower you with practical ways to reduce food waste in your home and community.

Below is the full list of Reduce Food Waste Actions released so far in Jewcology’s Year of Action. Looking for Saving Energy Actions? Visit the Actions to Save Energy page.

Reduce Food Waste Actions

1. Track My Food Waste for a Week

Learn more about the food you are throwing away in your home; the types of foods you are throwing away, when you’re throwing it away, and why.

Online tool! You can use this great food waste diary as a tool, and make notes to record what you’ve learned! Download the Food Waste Diary.

By taking this action you will save “1 shtickel of food waste wisdom,” by which we mean, you are well on your Jewish way to reducing food waste! Learn more about our assumptions in the Year of Action.

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2. Save the Perishables!

You can save money and reduce food waste by simply opening the door of your refrigerator and checking the expiration dates! How often do you find that the ‘use by’ date on a package has passed, and you end up throwing it away? Get in the habit of checking the perishable items in your fridge to eat them on time. Move them into the freezer if you don’t think you’ll have time to eat them.

Learn more about “Use By” dates. This handy website provides good information and tips.

By taking this action you will save approximately 11,614 Food Calories during the course of the year. Learn more about our assumptions in the Year of Action.

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3. Plan Ahead!

Save money and reduce food waste by planning meals ahead of time! Before you go to the store, use a meal planner and create a customized shopping list to figure out what you need. With a little forward planning, you can use what you have and buy what you need, reducing the amount of food you throw away.

Tools to help you: Check out this great meal planner and blank shopping list from our friends at Love Food, Hate Waste.

By taking this action you will save approximately 11,614 Food Calories during the course of the year. Learn more about our assumptions in the Year of Action.

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4. Eyes Bigger than Your Stomach?

Eyes bigger than your stomach? Once that food is on your plate, it’s either going in your mouth or in the trash. Prevent food waste with these tips:

1. Find out what is available first.

2. Start with small samples, especially if there are choices you’ve never tried before.

3. Take less than you think you’re going to eat. You can always go back to get more.

4. Teach your children to try a small portion first. Encourage them to finish what they have before taking more food.

(Credit: Sarah Rebecca Bedder)

Tools to help you: Here’s an interesting campus activity to try.

By taking this action you will save approximately 11,614 Food Calories during the course of the year. Learn more about our assumptions in the Year of Action.

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5. Plan a Picnic!

Appreciate food and nature at the same time — go for a picnic. Take the nice weather as an opportunity to clean out your fridge and enjoy an outdoor lunch with friends or family. But don’t bother with a special shopping trip to buy food for the outing, instead, use food that you already have. A picnic is a good opportunity to use up food odds and ends, and it’s OK if everyone eats something different.

When you go out, remember that there’s no need to give in to the custom of bringing disposable plastic utensils and plates to a picnic. Treat yourself to real metal utensils and reusable flatware — this is a waste-free picnic after all!

Tools to help you:

By taking this action you will save approximately 11,614 Food Calories during the course of the year. Learn more about our assumptions in the Year of Action.

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6. So Much Bread

How do you use bread? Toast at breakfast, sandwiches for lunches? Now consider how your bread-buying habits align with this consumption. Are you using all the bread that you buy?

By moving that loaf of bread—the one that’s been sitting on the counter or in the back of the fridge—to the freezer, you ensure that there will be slices available for quick meals during the week.

Or pack the bread in a vacuum sealed bag, store-bought or homemade, removing air and allowing bread to keep for longer.

One specific example of bread food waste can occur as a side effect of how we use challahs for our Shabbat meals. We’re used to big, braided challahs for most of the year, and big, round challahs for the high holidays. Do the members of your family devour it the moment it’s cut, or does a large quantity end up in the fridge or freezer, forgotten?

If so, consider alternatives to the big loaf of challah, such as rolls, to keep bread supply in line with consumption.

Tools to help you:

By taking this action you will save approximately 11,614 Food Calories during the course of the year. Learn more about our assumptions in the Year of Action.

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7. Stock Up on Ingredients

Keep your cupboard full of nonperishables so you can be ready when it comes time to reuse those leftovers.

Having essentials such as flour and baking products, canned beans and tomatoes, and everyday spices on hand allows you to incorporate perishables into meals, without having to make an extra grocery store trip. Those baked potatoes from two days ago (which are getting sort of dry) could easily become hash-browns, home-fries, or potato salad with the right ingredients on hand.

Have fun with this! There are unlimited ways to reincorporate leftovers into tonight’s meal, and they all start with having a few ingredients on hand.

Tools to help you:

By taking this action you will save approximately 11,614 Food Calories during the course of the year. Learn more about our assumptions in the Year of Action.

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8. When Life Gives You Leftovers, Make a New Meal!

The leftovers from last week’s meal may look a lot less appetizing than the food you bought yesterday. But if they stay in the back of the fridge, they’re going to end up in the trash!

Going the extra mile to reuse leftovers can really make a difference in your home waste stream—you’ll start to notice that the garbage needs to go out less and less often. And you can redeem your leftovers by making delicious new dishes. Take advantage of this chance to hone your cooking skills and reduce food waste!

When life gives you leftovers, make a new meal.

Tools to help you:

  • New! With this action, we are also proud to present the launch of a new resource: When Life Gives You Leftovers, Make a New Meal – a cookbook of leftover recipes developed for the Year of Action by the Jewish Cadette Girl Scout Troop 4056 in Maryland. Check it out and make your own delicious leftovers!

By taking this action you will save approximately 11,614 Food Calories during the course of the year. Learn more about our assumptions in the Year of Action.

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9. Keep Food Fresh Longer

The way you store your fruits, vegetables and other perishables can increase or decrease their shelf life. To keep perishables fresh as long as possible, consider these storage suggestions:

1. Separate fruits and veggies. Ethylene gas produced by ripening fruits and vegetables accelerates ripening in nearby fruits and vegetables. In particular for leafy vegetables, this can quickly cause spoilage.

2. Keep bananas and pineapples at room temperature or below, but do not refrigerate. Onions and potatoes are also best stored in a cool, dark place.

3. Wrapping celery tightly in aluminum foil and refrigerating will keep stalks crisper for longer. The foil can then be reused for the next batch of celery.

4. Bread should be stored in a dry place to prevent mold. It does better in the freezer than the refrigerator, where it goes stale more quickly, and fresh bread keeps best in a cool, dark place. Another effective way to keep bread fresh longer is to use vacuum-sealed plastic storage bags.

Tools to help you:

By taking this action you will save approximately 11,614 Food Calories during the course of the year. Learn more about our assumptions in the Year of Action.

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10. Plan Ahead to Use Your Bread

Every year, there seems to be a mad dash after Purim to get rid of our leavened bread (chametz) products before Passover. Why? Many of us keep stockpiles of pasta, crackers, and other staples in our pantries and loaves of bread in our refrigerators throughout the year without a second thought. Then the Jewish month of Nissan comes. We are commanded to get rid of our leavened bread, and yet we must also attend to the commandment bal tashchit, don’t destroy, which specifically applies to wasting edible food. Donating nonperishable chametz to food drives is a good way to go. But what do you do with all that extra bread? I know you can’t eat ten sandwiches daily until the Holiday of Matzah commences.

Here are some ways to get new life out of old bread:

1. Don’t buy it in the first place — as long as new bread purchases do not exceed your household demand for bread, there is no reason that it should accumulate into a pre-Pesach problem.

2. Make crumbs — stale bread and especially bread that’s been toasted, makes good fodder for bread crumbs or croutons — and they ought to keep much longer than a loaf.

3. Or try this more unconventional use — a slice of bread placed in the pot after cooking can remove the burnt taste of overcooked rice; in addition, it will remove excess water.

4. Be creative! Take advantage of the months before Passover to try out new chametz recipes, for example, one of these Pre-Pesach bread recipes, or whatever you can whip together with the flour, pasta, cereal, etc. you’ve got to use up.

Tools to help you:

By taking this action you will save approximately 11,614 Food Calories during the course of the year. Learn more about our assumptions in the Year of Action.

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11. Rescue Aging Fruits

Don’t let fear of fruit going bad stop you from picking up produce on your next visit to the grocery store. Though untreated fruit will go from unripe to ripe to overripe within a week (or less), there are methods to preserve fruits beyond their typical counter-life. When your fruit is just overripe enough so that no one in the house wants to eat it, try one of these tasty techniques to extend the life of your fruit:

1.Smoothies – Although smoothie recipes abound, the only ingredient you really need is a blender. Whatever fruit you have on hand can just be tossed in. Feeling worried it won’t come out tasting right? Try this template recipe for a fruit-vegetable smoothie. Try different combinations and discover what you like best!

2.Fruit leather and dried fruit – These can be made in the oven, but are best made in a dehydrator, which is more energy efficient, or even outside in the sun in a warm, dry climate. Place either pureed or thinly sliced fruit into a pan, and bake it on low heat for many hours until it is dry and chewy. Fruit leathers are a good use of overripe or bruised fruit, and can keep up to a month at room temperature (longer in the fridge or freezer). Here is a guide to dehydrating fruit from the National Center for Home Food Preservation.

3.Jams, jellies, and preserves – Often incorporating a special ingredient called pectin, jams, jellies, and preserves can last more than a year. Mastering homemade jam-making can seem daunting, but you can get started with something simple such as the raspberry jam recipe listed at the end of this Guardian food-section article. More information on making jams and jellies and numerous recipes can be found here.

Tools to help you:

By taking this action you will save approximately 11,614 Food Calories during the course of the year. Learn more about our assumptions in the Year of Action.

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12. Cook in Bulk


Making a casserole or a kugel? Use the extra ingredients to make two instead of one, and put the second in the freezer for later. Baking more than one will help you avoid wasting that large supply you bought at Sam’s Club or Costco, and will help with meal planning next time.

The potential benefits of cooking in large batches include the time you save yourself from having to spend cooking later in the week, the energy cost of heating up the stove or oven, the cost of ingredients, which are often cheaper sold in bulk, and knowing that there’s always something in the house to eat. And while, you’re at it, with all that food tucked away in the refrigerator, what better time to invite guests over for a meal?

Tools to help you:

By taking this action you will save approximately 11,614 Food Calories during the course of the year. Learn more about our assumptions in the Year of Action.

 


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