Close to 40 percent of all the food in the U.S. becomes waste. Garbage. Thrown away. Stunning, isn’t it?
In 2019, about 66 million tons of wasted food were generated in the food retail, food service, and residential sectors, and most of this waste (about 60%) was sent to landfills.
~The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
And once the food is in landfills, it breaks down to produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas directly associated with climate change. That’s the bad news, now for the good: consumers and companies are taking note. One organization, New York based Baldor Foods, has even developed easy recipes for using food scraps. Try their tomato sauce made from vegetable peelings and the tops of tomatoes, aka the parts you throw away. Learn more about the local movement to reuse food scraps in your area—the EPA has a list of sources that cover most of the country.
What can you do to help eliminate food waste?
Stop over-purchasing food. Meaning don’t buy ingredients for recipes you “think” you might make in a few days. Wait until you know you’re going to make it and avoid tossing that good food and good intentions into the trash.
Zero-Waste Cooking
Learn more about cooking sustainably from A&E Chef Joel Gamoran who I interviewed for The Flexitarian Rx back in 2020. This celebrity chef is teaching Americans to waste less, and eat more …
Two of my personal favorite recipes I learned from Chef Gamoran—both in his cookbook—are the onion skin fried pickles and the cheese rind tomato bread soup (seen here). Both delicious and both use a no-waste approach that makes you feel good about what you’re putting in your body, and not in the trash. Read more from my conversation with Chef Gamoran including his Top 5 Tips for Stretching Your Food.
About Chef Gamoran and an except from my 2020 interview: Best known as the host for A&E’s hit series “Scraps,” Chef Joel Gamoran is one of the country’s most well-known sustainability-focused chefs. In addition to his television show, Joel served as the National Chef for Sur La Table, makes monthly appearances on NBC’s Today Show and is author of “Cooking Scrappy.” With a passion for cooking with ingredients that most people tend to toss in the trash—think mushroom stems, banana peels and such—Chef Gamoran has shown millions of people (myself included) how delicious and gratifying it is to get scrappy in the kitchen, all while making a personal impact on reducing climate change. Recently, I got a chance to chat with him about his no-waste philosophy and what propelled this scrappy chef to learn how to cook deliciously, with less.
Cover image, yes, that’s me with an impromptu charcuterie board made with “stuff” we had hanging out in the refrigerator originally planned for other things : )
DISCLAIMER: I’m a writer and an editor. And I try my best to make sure every post is articulate and free from errors. However, being that I edit my own work—and it’s next to impossible to properly edit your own work—I admit, occasionally there may be an error or two I miss. But doing so doesn’t make me an idiot so don’t be mean. Just smile, pat yourself on the back for finding an error and be glad you’re not the only one who makes mistakes sometimes … xoxox
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