Feeling guilty about that slimy lettuce you just threw in the trash? You’re not alone. We Americans waste a staggering 40% of our food supply each year. Here are a few helpful tips for reducing waste from Cassandra Hage, executive director of St. Louis Earth Day.
- The place to start isn’t in your kitchen—it’s at the grocery store or farmers’ market. “The biggest thing is buying very conscientiously,” says Hage. “Do some meal planning so you don’t have a bunch of random things accumulate in the produce drawers.”
- Vintage cookbooks from wartime and the Depression are filled with recipes that repurpose leftovers. Stale bread, for instance, can be turned into panko, bread pudding, or croutons. (Hage uses it as a soup thickener.)
- Educate yourself on package labeling. “Sell by,” “use by,” and “best by” all mean very different things.
- Use little tricks to keep food fresh. Keep herbs in water; cut the green tops off carrots (otherwise the water goes into the tops, leaving the root to wilt); and store potatoes in a cool, dark place, such as a cellar.
- Apples, tomatoes, and bananas all give off ethylene gas, which ripens other produce stored near them. Store them separately from other produce.
- Start a composting system. “I live in South City, with a plot that's 1/16 of an acre—not at all big," she says, “but you can still do a simple compost pile in the back yard.”
- Stir-fry is a good way to get rid of random veggies that are about to go south.
- “For the ambitious, raising chickens is a great way to get rid of food waste,” Hage says, “and then you get eggs!”
