*This post was updated in April 2019 for Earth Month.

Zero Waste : Food Waste

Welcome to Part 2 of the four-part series on the Zero Waste Challenge I took up in summer. If you haven’t caught up on part 1 and its zero waste chronicles, please do so here–> Part 1: Zero Waste Challenge for All Seasons

I’m consciously altering my lifestyle to include and utilize plastic-free products as much as possible, some of which I chronicle in Part 1 above.

Included in this change is zero waste cooking to produce as little waste and plastic as possible. I won’t lie, it is hard to do as a lot of cooking is down to convenience in this fast-paced world of ours. During this challenge, I learnt a lot about bulk buying and composting, none of which I’d done before. I begin saving minimal food waste for drop-off compost before the challenge is over.

Without further ado, below are daily tips and alternatives to zero waste cooking.

 

Day 9: Compost

We discard a lot of food waste to landfills…a lot!

Food waste decomposes among inorganic material and nutrients are not distributed naturally into the soil. As a result, this food waste releases methane, a greenhouse gas, which contributes to global warming.

The main culprits of food waste are restaurants and eateries that discard unused and unsold food at the end of the day instead of donating them to shelters and charities.

Their reason is that they want no liability if a recipient sues them so they prefer to discard perfectly edible food but  the Food Protection Bill a.k.a Emerson Food Protection Act encourages donation of food and grocery products to non-profit organizations for distribution to individuals in need.

This Act protects against the following:

• Liability when you donate to a non-profit organization;
• Civil and criminal liability should the product donated in good faith later cause harm to the recipient;
• Standardizes donor liability exposure. You or your legal counsel do not need to investigate liability laws in 50 states; and
• Sets a floor of “gross negligence” or intentional misconduct for persons who donate grocery products. According to the law, gross negligence is defined as “voluntary and conscious conduct by a person with knowledge (at the time of conduct) that the conduct is likely to be harmful to the health or well-being of another person.”

Source: The Federal Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act. Feeding America. http://www.feedingamerica.org/about-us/partners/become-a-product-partner/food-partners.html Accessed October 2018.

 

 

Sustainable Alternative: If you live in an apartment building, fruit and vegetable scraps can be set aside in a compostable bin bag for collection by municipal waste operators.

If you’re lucky to own a yard, you should try your hand at composting and use the result as fertilizer. See How to Start a Compost Pile for tips. Do your part and find out what the municipal compost pick-up schedule is or if there’s a drop-off station in your area. You can drop-off scraps twice a month to save on daily or weekly trips.

I begin saving scraps for compost with this Zero Waste challenge and to eliminate smell, I save fruit and veg waste in the freezer. All other food scraps go in regular waste per my city’s guidelines.

It is all about convenience and if local governments make composting convenient by providing subsidized compost bins below, more people will take it up.

 

Day 10: Save Food Scraps!

To prevent food waste, buy enough produce to cook and eat. We’ve all been there: there’s a super sale of endives and you want to make this particular dish on IG (or is that just me??). You buy a ton of endives for use but somehow, life gets in the way and you forget to make them.

A week later, they are shrivelling in your fridge and you’re angry at yourself for the waste of food and money.

Sustainable Alternative: Shrivelled endives can go to compost OR better still, blend as part of a veggie soup base, broth or casserole. This is how I salvage vegetables for zero waste cooking.

Furthermore, tops and bottoms of onions and carrots can be planted in a seed box to grow produce. When I have more space, I’m going to grow certain vegetables and herbs using parts we generally discard.

For fruit, wash in white vinegar and freeze for smoothies. For coffee drinkers, save used grains, mix with body oil of choice and natural honey for use as an exfoliant.

 

Day 11: Meal Plan

Ok. This one I’ve got down pat and have been doing so for years. I cook large weekly meals to last me dinners at home and work lunches.

Meal planning not only saves money as you know what to buy, but you’re conscious of food and their environmental impact. Furthermore, you save money on take-out and limit the amount of sodium, MSG and sugars into your system.

Sustainable Alternative: I plan meals that go with other foods. E.g. a large pot of tomato-based seafood stew goes with couscous, brown rice, fried plantains, potatoes and yam.

A lot of traditional Nigerian foods feature heavily in my kitchen but since they are usually time-consuming, I make the major foods once a month and stick to stews, brown rice, soup and pottage. Leftovers help me be creative with new meals through little tweaks and very little goes to waste in my zero waste cooking.

Left over mash? Mix with spices, ground shrimp or chicken and some veg, sprinkle with crumbs and fry…or bake for a healthier alternative. That is one way of practicing zero waste cooking and eliminating food waste in the home.

 

Day 12: Purchase Ugly Produce

Food waste in the global West is estimated at 222 million tonnes…equivalent to all food produced in sub-Saharan Africa at 230 m tonnes (1)! Most food waste in landfills are “ugly” fruit discarded by supermarkets and restaurants…and for what?? I do not understand the hate for misshapen fruit and veg as they are just as nutritious as “normal’ fruit.

We have a psychological reaction when we see “ugly” produce because we are accustomed to Number 1 grade quality produce and most of us don’t realize that natural produce can be misshapen but still be tasty and nutritious.

In the U.S. alone, we waste about 20 pounds of food per person per month (2). Extrapolate that to a 4-person household and that is a lot of food waste for the year.

To curb food waste, there is growing awareness on the utility and nutrition of “ugly” produce and how they can make  delicious recipes. Some grocery stores even offer them at a discount as opposed to trashing them, which is good.

(1) 10 Facts you Might Not Know About Food Waste. Food Tank. https://foodtank.com/news/2015/06/world-environment-day-10-facts-about-food-waste-from-bcfn/ Accessed October 2018.

(2) Ugly Fruits and Veggies. https://growappalachia.berea.edu/2016/02/19/ugly-fruits-and-veggies/ Accessed October 2018.

I subscribe to an ugly fruit delivery service, Misfits Market (IG: @misfitsmarket), and receive my first package in September 2019 containing “ugly” fruit and veg. There is nothing ugly about the produce at all; maybe two dents on the cucumber and a lumpy potato, that’s all.

These are produce that would have been trashed in landfill as food waste to release methane contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Misfits Market is doing a great service by diverting “ugly” produce from the supply chain to consumers.

 

Day 13: Avoid Plastic Packaging In Store

We all see pre-cut veg and fruit on a bed of styrofoam wrapped in plastic wrap sitting on shelves for who knows how long. Do you buy these or do you prefer to slice them yourselves?

I always buy fresh produce and take a trolley bag grocery shopping so that I eliminate plastic packaging that way. Even when choosing veg, I am never able to open those roll-up plastic bags so I just put produce straight into the basket to wash with vinegar at home.

I know most people buy pre-cut for convenience but think about all that plastic and foam in direct contact with food. You can set aside 30 mins to slice, dice and freeze produce for whatever dish requires them so you do not have to chop on the same day you meal plan.

Everything is in plastic for freshness and the bulk of plastic in landfills is from food related packaging so try to avoid plastic and if possible, buy whole produce instead.

 

RELATED:Part 1: Zero Waste Challenge – Say No To Plastic

 

Day 14: Bulk Shopping

Buying produce, nuts and grains in bulk is a sure way to eliminate packaging waste and most grocery stores permit bulk shopping of food items.

Just weigh your container of choice before filling with grains or nuts, note the weight, price and other identifying items for payment and take to the counter. Many of the popular organic food stores permit bulk shopping.

 

Sustainable Alternative: Fill old pillowcases with grains and nuts or invest in recycled food containers made from single-use plastic from take-back programs.

Alternatively, mason jars or old pasta sauce containers work as well and we all have these jars in our pantries.

Taking your own containers cuts down on food waste as you know the quantity of produce that will sustain you instead of purchasing more than you need in plastic packaging.

I have two of those fancy Italian olive oil bottles with the corks in them that I keep for new oils. I add herbs to the bottles and pour grapeseed oil to add flavour and pretend I’m in Italy somewhere lol.

If you have said bottles with corks, use them to bulk buy your favourite cooking oils from package free stores in your city.

My local store doesn’t have bulk buying options but I can go out of my way to an organic store for bulk buying and it is all about need and convenience. We need to start buying produce in bulk to cut down on plastic packaging.

Day 15: Try to Shop Local

For those in the countryside, there is an abundance of fruit and veg that are literally farm-to-table fresh. For us city dwellers, we make do with weekly farmers’ markets for organic and seasonal produce.

Unfortunately, some major cities have food deserts with a preponderance of fast food outlets and no access to fresh produce or urban farms but awareness is ongoing on the importance of fresh produce, especially the link between food, disease and obesity.

Supporting local farmers’ markets helps to keep family farms in business and also preserve green space and these are becoming more common in major American cities.

 

Last Word

I know it is very hard to be completely zero-waste as there will always be trash that we cannot compost or recycle, but we can come close to eliminating food waste by opting for plastic-free foods, bulk buying and patronizing local markets.

Thank you for reading through and I hope that this inspires your family to practice zero waste cooking to minimize food waste in landfills and the environment as a whole.

Don’t forget to comment and share. See you on the social streets! xoxo

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