’Tis the season for good food, quality time with family and friends, and holiday cheer!
As we prepare for holiday parties and feasts, let’s review a few easy tips to keep the season merry while minimizing food waste and saving money.
Minimize food waste when you:
- Plan Ahead – Go to the grocery store or farmers market with a plan for what to buy and how you will use it. Impulse buying often leads to waste.
- Share – Offer extra sweets and treats to family, friends, and neighbors. If you’re hosting a dinner, provide to-go containers or ask guests to BYOC (bring your own container) to take leftovers home.
- Repurpose Ingredients – Make stock with leftover vegetable scraps and bones, toss old bread into the food processor to make breadcrumbs, or cube and toast it to make croutons.
- Reinvent Leftovers – Get creative and consider how your leftovers can be transformed into casseroles, stir-fries, skillet meals, stuffing, lettuce wraps, salads, and soups.
- Freeze It – Portion and freeze excess food for quick and easy weeknight meals.
Maximizing the use of food in meal preparation is an essential part of sustainability, but some food waste will inevitably be generated and must be disposed of. When it comes to spoiled food and food scraps, remember to collect organic waste in a kitchen pail (or any food container of choice). You can line your container with a compostable bag, paper bag, or newspaper before tossing in your food waste. To help prevent odors, sprinkle a thin layer of baking soda into the food waste to help absorb moisture. And if you can spare the space, store your container in your refrigerator or freezer until it’s full. Then, you can empty your container into your compost pile or bin at home or a collection container if your community offers one.
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