Reducing Food Waste

Intro

Did you know 1/3 of the worlds food gets wasted?

And that there is enough food produced in the world to feed everyone?

I know.

I’ve been thinking about food waste a lot recently which is why I thought I’d pull together this special ‘skills’ training.

It’s really up to us to minimize food waste in our homes. And make a difference in the world.

I hope this empowers you to make some changes for the better.

And I’d love to hear what you think in the comments below.

With love,
Jules x

ps. And if you missed last months training on Ingredient Storage, make sure you check it out! It’s a great compliment to the topics discussed here 🙂

The Magical Jar of Random Bites

What am I talking about?

This is a concept I’ve been experimenting (and having loads of fun with) in recent months.

First I’ve been working on developing the skill of ‘Intuitive Eating’. Which is all about using your internal hunger and satiety cues to determine how much food to eat.

As part of this I’ve been challenging myself to overcome my ingrained ‘clean plate’ tendencies by making sure I leave some food on my plate.

Yes, intentionally ‘wasting’ food.

Then I had the idea that I didn’t necessarily need to throw out these ‘random’ mouthfuls.

What if I kept them to use for another meal?

So I started keeping a Mason-style jar of ‘random bites’ in the fridge to save these little morsels from being fed to the chickens.

And challenged myself to use my ‘random jar’ first when building my Abundance Bowl lunches and dinners.

And you know what?

There hasn’t been a single time when something has tasted bad.

Plenty of times when I’ve thought ‘I’m not sure this will go together…’.

But not once have I had to ‘force’ myself to eat something icky.

In fact they’ve been really delicious.

And even better, I’m noticing that we’re using significantly less food.

Which means less shopping.

Win win!

If you’d like to try this for yourself, it’s super easy.

Just save any random bites in a Mason jar / any jar / container and use them in your next meal.

And let me know what you find in the comments below!

How Do You Know When Food is Still ‘Safe to Eat’?

Want to know something that drives me crazy?

Normally I’m a pretty relaxed person.

But.

When chefs / recipes writers give insanely conservative estimates of how long food will last. It really makes me mad.

I understand that no one wants to get sued from making someone sick.

But what about all the food that gets wasted?

Seriously, my home made mayo is only going to last in the fridge for 3 days?

Then how come I’m still alive and have been eating 2 week old mayo on a regular basis for years?

OK. Calm down Jules.

So when I got the following comment from one of my cooking school students, I thought it was a perfect excuse for a rant, which fortunately we’ve already got out of the way.

It’s also a great reason to help you make educated decisions for yourself.

Oh and save lots of harmless deliciousness from meeting an untimely end!

“I am amazed how well fresh fruit and veg last when stored correctly. I often threw out food after 2-3 days before as I didn’t know how long it could last in the fridge so thank you so much for sharing that information.

One question: how do you know if food is no longer edible? Do you do a smell test and/or trust your judgement?“

Chris, SVCS Student

How do you know when food is still ‘safe to eat?’

1. Fresh Produce

With fresh produce you can tell by looking… Wilted / browned / sad looking / slimy are all signs your fresh produce is ‘past it’.

Eating this produce won’t make you sick, but it’s not necessarily tasty.

Use your judgement on what can be ‘rescued’ and what needs to go to the chooks / compost.

2. Leftover Cooked Food

First, have a good look. If you see mould or yeast spots (little shiny spots) growing then throw it out.

These are generally the first to grow long before any bacteria that will make you sick.

Occasionally I’ll scrape off the mouldy bits and eat the rest (after a thorough reheating). But if serving to others, especially my children, I don’t risk it.

But if there are no visible signs of spoilage and I’m still a bit concerned, I use the ‘smell test’. If it smells funny or just ‘not right’ then again turf it.

And if it’s passed both tests above but I’m still a little concerned, I make sure I heat it until it’s super hot before serving (to myself).

3. Packaged Food

One of my jobs when I was working in the food industry was to determine how long to allow as the shelf life on breakfast cereals, snacks and biscuits (cookies). We were always really conservative because we wanted to make sure the consumer had a great experience.

It wasn’t like one day the food tasted amazing and the next day it didn’t taste good any more.

The changes in an unopened packet would gradually happen over months. The first sign would usually be a dulling of flavour or change in texture.

These products would still be edible years after the best before date expired. By their nature (very low moisture) there wasn’t any risk of food poisoning. They just wouldn’t taste very good.

But what if I’m still worried?

Please, please trust your own judgement. If it’s going to stress you out to eat something you’re better off to throw it out and waste a little food.

There aren’t any prizes for bravery in the face of questionable food stuffs, at least none that I know of. [/tab] [tab]

An Insiders Guide to Best Before Dates

When I finished university and started my first job as a food scientist, I was fascinated by the process of determining the shelf life of products.

There were all manner of fancy simulated tests, but as I quickly realized, the only real way to know how a product is going to change over time is to keep a few packets and taste them as time progresses.

Simple but time consuming – especially if your product is expected to last for a year or more.

What’s the difference between best before and use-by?

Best Before Dates tend to be used on products that have a longer shelf life like cereal or chocolate biscuits.

The intention is to give you a guide but in most cases, if the product hasn’t been exposed to extreme heat and is unopened, it will still be edible.

There are subtle changes such as loss in flavour that occur over time, so it may not taste as good as a packet fresh off the factory floor, but not enough difference to warrant wasting good food.

Use-by Dates are usually associated with shorter shelf life, more high risk products like milk and eggs.

In this case I tend to obey the use-by date.

Although I have been known to risk milk in my tea after it has expired and sometimes it’s fine (say if the carton has only just been opened) and of course then there are the times where it’s in date but makes a curdled mess of your tea (usually because someone has left the milk out of the fridge!).

Which reminds me – trust your instincts. Just because something is in date doesn’t mean it’s 100% safe – if it smells funny, ditch it, regardless of the date.

How do best before dates get chosen?

I’m not familiar with the process for shorter life products like meat and milk. But I assume there is extensive testing both of changes to flavour, appearance and microbial populations to determine the use-by time period.

For things with longer shelf lives, like cereal and chocolate biscuits, I’ve been actively involved.

Basically a whole heap of the product is placed in room temperature (and sometimes other temperatures as well) storage. Samples are taken on a regular basis and evaluated for appearance, texture and flavour until the desired shelf life time has passed, or the product becomes unacceptable for sale.

The time period is then chosen based on how the product has performed.

Generally there is a safety margin built in of a few months. So if the product started to show signs of flavour loss or other undesirable attributes at say, 8 months, then the shelf life would be set at say, 6 months.

But the crazy thing is the food would still be completely safe and delicious for a lot longer than that.

Sustainable Shopping Tips

1. Buy what you need

This is an area where I struggle, especially at the farmers market. However the less food you bring into the house at any one time the easier it is to manage your inventory and avoid waste.

If you’re an over-buyer like me, either commit to shopping with a list (see below) OR tell yourself you’re only buying food for a shorter period of time than you actually are.

So when I go to the farmers market I tell myself to just get things for this week. But invariably I buy enough for 2 weeks. So I wait until the fridge is almost empty before going back to the markets.

2. Shop with a list

This is the easiest way to ensure you only buy what you need. If you struggle with planning ahead and prefer to buy what looks best, consider using a more general list.

For example, I need 3 different types of protein this week and 6 different veggies.

For more on how to calculate your general list see the ‘2-minute planning formula‘ in the Master Your Meal Plan program.

3. Don’t shop when you’re hungry

You know where this leads…

4. Explore your farmers market

Support local farmers and businesses, reduce packaging and get amazing fresh produce at reasonable prices. No brainer!

I also love my farmers market for buying ethically raised meat, poultry and dairy products.

5. Explore a bulk foods store

Buying in bulk is generally cheaper but more importantly from a sustainability perspective there is significantly less packaging. I’ve started ordering my almond meal and some nuts and seeds in 5kg (10lb) boxes online.

6. Bring your own bags + containers

I have a personal rule not to use plastic shopping bags except for meat and fish. So on the times I forget my bags I either squeeze things in my handbag or ask for a box.

And I’ve recently banned myself from getting takeaway coffee in disposable cups. If I want coffee, I bring my own travel mug.

7. Choose glass or paper packaging over plastics

Plastics are a huge environmental problem because they don’t break down. And there are issues with plastic recycling. So anything you can do to minimize plastics coming into your house is a good thing.

8. Experiment with eating locally

I recently did a month of only eating local ingredients grown in my state. It was really fun and I discovered some beautiful local ingredients I wouldn’t have tried otherwise.

3 Steps to Avoiding Wasted Ingredients

STEP 1. Rotate

This is subtle but can really make all the difference. The idea is when you put new items into the fridge, you try and position them at the back and bring the older items to the front.

I’m usually pretty good at doing this with my fresh produce.

I usually keep veg in the crisper drawer and on the bottom shelf of my fridge (I eat a lot of veggies!). So when I come home from the markets, I pull out the old things that need eating up. Put away the new veg, Then return the older veg to the fridge at the front so I’ll remember to eat them first.

The second part of this concept is to rotate leftovers.

Bring the older ones to the front and put newer ones to the back. Turns out I’m not always so brilliant at this, especially when I’ve done a photo shoot and have loads of leftovers.

STEP 2. Really look each day

It’s funny how we can open the fridge door but not really ‘see’ what’s in there. While step 1 helps to make the looking part easier, it’s still important to have a good look each day.

I find asking yourself ‘what needs eating up here?‘ can help identify and avoid unnecessary waste.

It also helps with deciding what to cook and eat.

STEP 3. Take action as needed

This is the ‘business’ end of the process. It’s one thing to know you have some chicken breast that is close to its use buy date. But unless you make a plan to cook said chicken or pop it in the freezer, it won’t be saved from the waste bin.

The three most common ways I tend to take action here are to:

1. Eat it

2. Cook it

3. Freeze it.

Not exactly rocket science, but easy to forget. The power to avoid waste is within you!

And if you need more specific tips, see the ingredient storage training. Or look at the ‘waste avoidance strategy’ I include beneath each recipe.

4 steps to cure refrigerator ‘blindness’

Have you ever found yourself staring into your fridge thinking ‘there’s nothing to eat here’? Even if the shelves aren’t bare?

Well my friend, you may be suffering from ‘refrigerator blindness’.

But the good news is you’re not alone!

Over the years I’ve noticed episodes of ‘refrigerator blindness’ in my friends, my flatmates, a certain Irishman, and even in myself, from time to time.

There is one person who seemed to be immune, my beautiful mother. Years of living on a farm bringing up 5 children, with the closest supermarket over 40 minutes away must have been a powerful ‘antidote’ to the dreaded refrigerator blindness.

So when I feel a case coming on, I stop and think about how my Mum would approach the situation.

Usually I find something to eat, keeping the ‘refrigerator blindess’ germs at bay for another meal.

Today I thought I’d share with you the 4 easy steps you to can take to cure this pesky disease. So you’ll be eating what you have rather than letting it go to waste.

4 steps to cure refrigerator ‘blindness’

STEP 1. Get all the likely suspects out in the open.

It’s difficult to see what you’re working with when everything is packed into the fridge. It will only take a minute or so but spreading things out on your kitchen bench top or table will make all the difference.

STEP 2. Group items which might go together.

I look for things that seem like they’d be nice together. I also group items which need eating up the most.

STEP 3. Quickly scan your pantry / freezer for reinforcements.

A can of tomatoes, some canned chickpeas, par-cooked rice, stock cubes, coconut milk. And in the freezer look for things that won’t take ages to defrost like frozen peas, stock frozen in small containers or sliced bread.

STEP 4. Get cooking!

See the Recipes for Leftovers section if you need ideas.

Commonly Wasted Ingredients + Clever Ideas for Using Them Up

My first rule of thumb is to try and avoid leftover ingredients in the first place.

Most recipes here at the SVCS are designed so you use all of a particular ingredient.

However, if you are following another recipe that calls for 1/2 bunch of herbs, try using the whole bunch if you don’t think it’s going to ruin the dish.

But when you do find yourself with leftover ingredients, the easiest way to use them up is to remember to get them out of the pantry or fridge include them in your cooking.

Salad Leaves

Tend to be the most perishable of all veg. When you buy them packed in sealed bags, there are often different gasses flushed into the bag to remove oxygen and prolong the life. That’s why salad in bags had a longer use by date. But then when you open the bag (and let oxygen in) it deteriorates quite quickly.

A great way to use salad leaves, apart from making a side salad is to sprinkle a handful over protein based dishes to freshen up the plate. Or serving things like stews or curries on a bed of salad leaves as a lighter alternative to the usual carb-heavy accompaniments of rice, pasta or mashed spuds.

For loose salad leaves (or home grown!) I wash and spin dry (leaving them slightly damp) then lay the leaves out on paper towel and wrap up into a bundle. Then put the bundle in a plastic bag and suck to remove most of the air before sealing. It’s a bit of a hassle up front but they last longer and they’re already washed when you need them.

Lemons

Last for ages in the fridge if whole. Like months. Leftover lemon halves will last for a week or two in an airtight jar (I used to use a ziplock bag but have recently switched to glass).

Use excess lemons in salad dressings or as a side to squeeze over rich protein-based dishes. The juice of half a lemon in a small glass of cold water makes a super invigorating start to the day.

Celery

Make sure it’s wrapped up in either foil or plastic to minimise loss of moisture and wilting. I’ve had celery last for over a month in my fridge.

The key to celery is to stop just thinking of it as an aromatic veg to use as a supporting ingredient and started using it as an ingredient in its own right.

My favourite is in a raw veg salad. Suddenly it won’t seem to be such a problem. There’s a recipe for my favourite Celery Heart Salad in the cooking on a budget class.

A little finely sliced celery is brilliant for adding crunch in all sorts of dishes.

Basil

Basil gets a mention on it’s own because I find commercial basil notorious for going brown and wilted after just one night in the fridge.

I try and grow my own basil but when I do buy it, I make sure I turn it into pesto either on the day or the next. Pesto freezes really well.

OR if I’m short on time, I make a basil oil by packing the washed & dried leaves into a jar and covering with a good peppery extra virgin olive oil. This way it will keep in the fridge for weeks and you can fish out the leaves or use the oil as you go.

Leafy Herbs

Washing and wrapping in paper towel and a plastic bag as I instructed for salad leaves can help. But I find it best to try and use them as quickly as possible.

Mint, parsley and coriander (cilantro) can be used as a salad leaf so they’re pretty easy to find a home for. Or consider trying alternative pestos or herb oils.

Woody Herbs

Woody herbs like thyme, sage and rosemary are fine in the freezer. Then you can just use them as needed.

This also works for bay leaves, curry leaves, kaffir lime leaves. Fresh horseradish, ginger & turmeric.

Sauces

Sauces can be divided into two categories. Ones that need refrigerating after opening and those that don’t. Read the label if in doubt.

For sauces that can be served as a condiment, it’s a matter of getting them out and serving them on the table for everyone to experiment with. Although best to only have 1-2 options out at a time so it’s not overwhelming.

For sauces that are more used as ingredients like soy, fish or oyster sauce, first think about the style of sauce and where those styles can be used. For example if it’s an Asian sauce like hoisin, it can probably be used anywhere that you’d use a thicker Asian sauce like oyster sauce or sweet soy sauce. Say stir fries or on steamed veg.

Likewise curry pastes can often be used interchangeably to give a different slant on an old favourite dish.

‘Exotic’ ingredients

Two options for figuring out how to use up your ‘orange blossom water’ or pomegranate molasses.

1. Just search the SVCS site or google it with the word recipe and see what comes up.

2. Have a taste on its own and think about which common ingredients it is most like. Then try using it instead of the common ingredient. Or do a 50:50 replacement.

For example, tasting pomegranate molasses, it’s sweet but also has quite a bit of acidity. So my first place to try it would be somewhere that I’d normally use balsamic vinegar which is also sweet and acidic.

Cheese

Odd ends of cheese are easy to get rid of. Save them up for a pot luck mac & cheese extravaganza. Just grate or crumble and mix them together.

Rinds of hard cheeses like parmesan can be added to soups or stews to give extra richness and umami flavours. Just remember to fish them out before serving. Or chop them finely before adding for extra bursts of cheesiness.

I’ve also recently been making a parmesan rind pesto. I save the rinds in a glass jar in the fridge. Then when the jar is full I roughly chop the rinds and cover with boiling water and soak for at least a few hours but preferably overnight. This softens the rinds and enables them to be blended in a pesto with herbs, garlic, olive oil and nuts.

Salads and abundance bowls are another great repository for odd scraps of cheese. A tiny bit sprinkled or grated over just before serving can add interest without requiring a large amount of cheese.

Vegetables

We’ve covered ideal storage conditions in a separate training.

The obvious homes for odd veg are soups, stews and slow cooked dishes.

But don’t forget to add little bits and pieces to salads, especially ‘slaw or raw veg salads. Vegetables can also be added to add textural variety to a pot of cooked legumes either in with the cooking water, or as a fresh ingredient later on.

Cucumbers & Capsicum (Bell Peppers)

You should be able to get 2 weeks out of these in the fridge. The thing that makes them go bad is dehydration. So keeping them in containers or as I do, in plastic bags is the solution.

Avocado

I only put them in the fridge once they’re cut or if they’re going super soft and I’m not going to eat them. Avocados are warm weather creatures who don’t like the cold. Refrigeration actually cases ‘chilling injury’ and speeds up browning but it’s the lesser of two evils.

When cut, leaving the stone in the half you’re not going to eat helps protect a large part of the surface area from browning.

I find they don’t last for long. I tend to buy the firmest ones I can (unless I feel like eating avocado straight away) but they’re always something I’m thinking about ‘eating up’ before they go bad.

Bananas

Like avocado, refrigeration makes bananas brown more rapidly but does slow down the ripening process, so if I have bananas we’re not going to eat in time, I either pop them in the fridge (to eat in the next few days) or freezer (to use in baking or as a base for ice cream).

Reducing Kitchen Disposables

This is a new area for me! I’ll admit that I have been addicted to my baking paper and ziplock bags.

But I’ve recently realized it’s time for a change…

Baking Paper / Parchment Paper

I’ve recently switched to an unbleached paper that isn’t lined with ‘non stick’ plastics.

I’ve also decided to stop lining baking trays with paper unless it’s something like cookies that I’m really worried about sticking. I got into a bad habit of always reaching for the baking paper because it looks pretty in photos and I had this idea that it made it easier to clean my trays.

But in reality there’s always some oil or juices that get into the tray anyway. So better to save the paper and just wash the tray.

If you are using baking paper, try and save it to reuse. The paper can be wiped down and left to dry for a future use.

Foil

Isn’t recyclable as far as I know.

I generally use foil for wrapping baked goods for freezing and lunchboxes. OR for covering meat when roasting. I need to work out an alternative for both of these.

If you have ideas minimizing and reusing – I’d love to hear them in the comments below!

Cling Wrap

I’ve never been a fan but have used it from time to time to cover things or wrap. From now on I plan to either use a plate to cover instead. Or transfer everything to a glass jar or one of my pyrex containers.

No more cling wrap for me! Planning to give away my remaining 1/2 used roll to the local community hall.

Ziplock Bags

Oh how I love them!

Not prepared to ‘break up’ with my ziplocks just yet.

But I am committed to washing and reusing them as much as possible. And getting the boys to bring them home in their lunch boxes so I can reuse those ones as well.

I’m installing a piece of string above my sink with pegs on it to hang ziplocks to dry before putting them away.

And where possible I’m looking for ways to avoid using them in the first place. For example a 1/2 opened packet of crackers or chips can go in a glass container. And 1/2 opened packets of cheese can go in the fridge in a jar.

It’s amazing what a little bit of thought can do.

Bin Liners

Experimenting at the moment with doing away with bin liners in the kitchen and for my recycling. And going back to the old idea of just washing the bin after I empty it each time.

Not ready to do this for nappies just yet. But have worked out I can save the bags the nappies come in to use as a liner in Finbars room. Looking forward to being nappy-free this Summer!

Other Plastic Bags

I’ve already committed to not bringing any more bags into the house. But my Irishman is another story. At the moment I still use plastic bags for storing fruit and veg in the fridge. So I am washing them out between uses (and hanging to dry on my new pegs) to reuse as much as possible.

General Ideas for Leftovers

Abundance Bowls

Abundance bowls are one of my favourite ways to eat and use up all the random bites I collect in my ‘Magical Jars’. I then either add a poached egg, some canned sardines or other canned fish or a handful of nuts if I need to make it more substantial. And a good sauce to tie it all together (and add some fat).

You can leave everything cold or warm it up as you feel. As I mentioned I’ve been challenging myself to eat whatever leftovers we generate this eay and I’m still get to have a meal that tastes bad.

Refrigerator Soup / Stew

Best for cooler weather. This is my first port of call for a leftover lunch or dinner. Because the leftovers have been hanging around the fridge for a few days, your soup will often end up with surprising depth of flavour. I generally choose either stock, tomato passata or coconut milk to act as the fresh base to pull everything together.

For an example of me doing just that see ‘A Simple (and Incredibly Tasty) Way to Use Up Leftovers‘.

A ‘Composed’ salad

Similar to the abundance bowl but serve everything on a bed of dressed salad leaves.

Sandwich or Wrap

First you need to make sure you’ve got bread or wraps. Remember you can use lettuce leaves or collard greens for a healthy low-carb wrap alternative. Or try my Almond Burger Buns or these Zucchini Tortillas if you want something both healthy and substantial.

Good Things on Toast

If you have bread and the weather is cooler, heating up leftovers and serving on hot buttered toast is a winner. For bonus points grate some cheese over the top and put everything under the grill until bubbling and golden.

Low carb lovers can use these Little Almond Breads or my Broccoli Sandwich Bread.

Put an Egg on It

The French call this ‘oeufs en reste‘ and basically the idea is to reheat your leftovers with a little stock to moisten then add an egg in the middle of the frying pan and cook until the whites are set. Works really well with leftover stews, curries, pasta, roast veg. Whatever you’ve got. If it needs a bit more green try adding a handful of frozen peas (or any leftover herbs or salad leaves).

Recipes for Leftovers

I actually bought a book called ‘loving your leftovers’ and I found it wasn’t very inspirational.

However I’m hoping these ‘template’ recipes from the Master Your Meal Plan might be helpful…

• Abundance Bowls – I know I’ve already talked about these but they’re so so good for leftovers!
• Baked Frittata
• Quick Main Course Salad
• Raw Veg Lunch Salad
• One Pot Grain & Veg
• One Pot Chilli
• Hot & Firery Curry
• Mild & Creamy Indian Curry
• Quick Stir Fry
• Refrigerator Soup

Challenge!

I’ve recently been keeping a log of every time I throw out food or ingredients. I’m finding it super useful from an accountability and motivation perspective.

So if you’re up for it I challenge you to keep a Food Waste Log for the next week.

Here’s how:

1. Put a piece of paper and a pen on your fridge.

2. Every time you throw away leftovers or ingredients record what it was, what was wrong with it and the date.

3. Share how you find this exercise in the comments below!

Resources

Books:

• ‘Low Tox Life’ by Alexx Stuart
• ‘Simplicious Flow’ by Sarah Wilson

Websites:

• 1 Million Women
• Oz Harvest
• Low Tox Life

And if you have any resources for reducing food waste, I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!