A reader recently emailed me after he came across a post we ran in March about not wasting food and told me it was actually the topic to which he devotes his entire blog.
"It's a topic near and dear to my heart, as I write the blog Wasted Food, Jonathan said, "I examine waste throughout the food chain and talk about how to avoid it."
WastedFood.com has some great ideas for cutting back on food waste, both at home and in restaurants, so click through for the rundown on the site, and leave us your ideas.
posted originally from: AT:Kitchen
Some of my favorite features on the site are Jonathan's Friday Buffet rundowns of various waste and conservation related posts from throughout the web, he does a great job of rounding up pertinent posts from other sources. The site also has section of tips from readers, which is a great way of aggregating comments onto a page of the site that doesn't end up getting buried and, well, wasted.
WastedFood.com also has its own Flickr set, which is a bit depressing, but an important visual reminder of how un-sexy it is to waste food. The image above is an artichoke found in the Salinas, CA landfill. The top photo of the wasted breakfasts and "why" frowny-face notes is from a food waste audit at Virginia Tech.
I'm definitely more on the look-out for ways to save food and I don't know anyone who isn't thinking along these lines given the current chilly economic outlook. Are you trying to waste less food? What's your technique? My primary way of doing this is just to eat less and always to have a mind toward this end. I only buy extra if I know I'm cooking for a few meals to leave for little mouths and babysitters when I'm away. In restaurants, we almost always share an entree.
Leave us your tips, personal rules, and strong feelings below.
• WastedFood.com
• Food Waste Flickr Set
(Images used with permission from Jonathan Bloom)
don't forget: you can waste food by eating too much, too.
it doesn't matter if you throw that pizza crust in the garbage or in your mouth. If you don't want it/need it, it's wasted.
at that point, it would be better off in the garbage. (rather than use my body as a disposal.)
view theambershow's profile
Have to agree with theambershow.
But we find the best way to not waste food is to not go shopping until the fridge is properly empty. This means making a few dishes by throwing all the last bits of stuff together (which often end up being super tasty I might add). It inspires creative combinations that might not otherwise get tried out, and importantly, all the food gets used.
view hughbert's profile
Another tip I forgot to mention - I've found that using see-thru containers (I use glass) in the fridge helps reduce waste. If you can easily see what leftovers you have then you're more likely to eat them rather than go poking through unknown containers.
view hughbert's profile