{"id":7855,"date":"2015-08-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/togethercounts.com\/how-to-prevent-food-waste\/"},"modified":"2015-08-11T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-08-11T00:00:00","slug":"how-to-prevent-food-waste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/togethercounts.com\/es\/how-to-prevent-food-waste\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Prevent Food Waste"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TOPS<\/a><\/p>\n

Be honest. How much food do you end up tossing out every week? If you\u2019re anything like me, you find yourself throwing away produce you had every intention of eating (but has since turned into a terrifying science experiment in the back of the fridge) more often than you\u2019d like. Turns out I\u2019m not alone. In the U.S., 30-40% of the foods supply is wasted. This is equivalent to more than 20 pounds of food per person per month! So what do you do when good food goes bad and how can you keep it from going bad in the first place?<\/p>\n

For help, I turned to Jen Ede, the new editor of TOPS News magazine, which is a proud member of the nationwide Together Counts\u2122 program. In her previous life, Jen worked as a personal chef and employed some pretty creative methods for preventing food waste. Check out our Q & A session.<\/p>\n

Q:<\/strong> Do you have any tips for smart and savvy grocery shopping so that you don\u2019t end up wasting food?<\/em><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> I try very hard to buy only what I need and to plan my meals with the goal of using those ingredients up. I don\u2019t always go shopping with a set menu, but I do keep in mind my staples\u2014what I regularly eat\u2014and my obligations for the week ahead. Am I cooking at home? Going out?<\/p>\n

Knowing my schedule helps me make sure I have healthy food on hand when I need it. It\u2019s tempting to pick things up because they\u2019re on sale or they look good, but oftentimes, when we don\u2019t have a plan, food gets wasted either because we don\u2019t cook it in time or we forget it\u2019s even there! Then, we either buy something quick or go out, which is doubly expensive.<\/p>\n

Q:<\/strong> How can we prevent perfectly good produce from going bad?<\/em><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> A few tips here: the big one is to know how to store it. Root vegetables will keep for a long time in a cool area. Fragile veggies, like greens and herbs, need more attention. Greens should be kept in the crisper and rinsed and dried just before you eat them. Herbs will last a few days longer if you cut the ends and stand them up in a glass of water on your counter. Stems can be added to a variety of different dishes, from pestos to soups. Many nutrients can be found in peels, too.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s where my second tip comes in. When I buy produce, I sort it into the kind I eat raw and the kind I have to cook. I make sure the raw stuff is close at hand for when I need a quick snack\u2014I literally have no choice but to keep eating healthy, crunchy things because there is so much sometimes! It\u2019s a great way to make sure I get enough fruits and veggies, and it cuts down on waste in the short and long term.<\/p>\n

Another helpful hint is to know a couple of recipes to dress the raw product up. If I have a big bag of greens, for instance, I\u2019ll make one of my favorite dressings (sometimes, salads need a dash of excitement). If it was cabbage, well, I drew deeply from my days living in Eastern Europe and either ate it raw in a salad, made sauerkraut, or threw it into soup. In general, roasting with some olive oil, salt and herbs has helped me redeem many a wayward vegetable.<\/p>\n

Q:<\/strong> Tell me more about the idea of \u201cFridge Zero.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> I didn\u2019t know that the term didn\u2019t exist yet, so I guess I coined it! I am always striving toward \u201cFridge Zero\u201d\u2014that is, I try to use up all the food I buy before I add new items to my fridge (condiments are the exception, but even those need to go sometimes). The idea is to know what you already have there, and also in your cabinets and freezer. That way, when you go shopping, you can be thinking, that beef roast has been in there for a while\u2026 wouldn\u2019t some carrots and turnips go nicely with it? Or how about that whole-wheat pasta you bought with the best of intentions\u2026 wouldn\u2019t it taste great with some greens, garlic and basil, along with that can of tomatoes you already have? Working toward \u201cFridge Zero\u201d helped me feel like I was making those incremental changes without being wasteful.<\/p>\n

Q:<\/strong> Are there any special rules you live by to help you avoid wasting food?<\/em><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> This is a concept I know I didn\u2019t create\u2014\u201cKitchen Sink.\u201d Sometimes, a dish I throw together contains everything but the kitchen sink. Greens that are getting wilty, a potato that\u2019s been with me a bit too long, herbs that look a little sad\u2014all bound together with eggs (a frittata, if you\u2019re feeling fancy). It helps to have a basic understanding of what tastes good together, but don\u2019t let that stop you from experimenting. You\u2019ll figure it out, and even if it\u2019s weird to other people, so what?<\/p>\n

Maggie Thorison is the Wellness Manager for\u00a0<\/em>TOPS Club, Inc.<\/em><\/a>, a nonprofit weight-loss support organization with thousands of chapters throughout the United States and Canada. Maggie has a passion for fitness and wellness and shares healthy tips for the workplace and everyplace in her bi-weekly\u00a0<\/em>Wellness Wednesday blog<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

For more tips to get you cooking in the kitchen take a look at these other articles from Together Counts!<\/strong><\/p>\n