Published on March 1st, 2018 | by Natural Awakenings Publishing Corp.

Nine Tips to Tackle Food Waste at Home

Jonathan Bloom, author of American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half of Its Food (And What We Can Do About It), suggests many ways to curb this habitat, WastedFood.com. Here are some suggestions from him and others:

Shop smart. Plan meals for the week with a detailed shopping list, suggests Madeline Basler, a certified dietician nutritionist in Long Island, New York.
Save, transform and eat leftovers. “Eat down the fridge,” counsels Kim O’Donnell, a chef and cookbook author in Portland, Oregon. Turn leftovers into frittata, sandwich fillings, pasta sauces and soups. In this way, we’re not eating quite the same meal again.
Store food in safe, sealable glass containers, so it’s easy to see.
Avoid clutter in the refrigerator and freezer; if we can’t see it, we won’t eat it.
Treat expiration and sell-by dates as just guidelines. There is wiggle room in both, advises Bloom.
Donate extra pantry items to food banks and places that provide hot meals for those in need.
Preserve the bounty of the garden. Learn how to make quick pickles, pasta sauces and foods to freeze.
Join a food exchange. Emily Paster, cofounder of Chicago Food Swap, helps farmers, foragers, home cooks, gardeners, bakers and canners trade or barter their produce and products.
Go social. PDX Food Swap, in Portland, Oregon; BK Swappers, in Brooklyn, New York; and ATX Swappers, in Austin, Texas, combine food exchange events with a potluck.