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According to the United Nations Environmental Programme, more than a third of all food produced worldwide ends up in the trash. In fact, about 8 to 10 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions are caused by the production of food that is never eaten!
Fortunately, many companies and organizations are getting creative when it comes to solving the problem of food waste. Food startups are recycling ingredients into new products, and the Biden-Harris administration, in partnership with three government agencies, recently released a strong national strategy to reduce food loss and waste and recycle organics.
In the United States, according to data from ReFED, nearly half of all food waste comes from our homes.
This means that each of us has the power to make meaningful progress on food waste at a system-wide level. And these changes can start in our kitchens.
By taking the time to avoid food waste at home, “we can be more conscious of the food on our plates and appreciate all the energy and time that has gone into it, not only by our planet but also by those who produce it,” says chef and activist Haile Thomas.
This week I would like to highlight a few cookbooks that are helpful guides for reducing food waste in a sensible way – and thus making a difference beyond your own four walls.
In Cooking with Leftovers: Turn Your Peels, Cores, Rinds, and Stems Into Delicious Meals, Lindsay-Jean Hard’s recipes show us how to use carrot greens, broccoli stalks, water from canned beans, and more to create delicious meals—and save a little money in the process.
In Cured: Cooking with Ferments, Pickles, Preserves & More, Steve McHugh and Paula Forbes offer a comprehensive guide to curing and preserving, as well as recipes such as kimchi meatloaf, creamy smoked seafood, parsnip and celery root soup, and chocolate tart with smoked nuts.
In Cook More, Waste Less, Christine Tizzard offers tips on saving money, protecting the environment, and making the most of ingredients that may be a little past their prime.
In “Perfectly Good Food: A Totally Achievable Zero Waste Approach to Home Cooking,” Margaret Li and Irene Li offer more than 80 recipes and 150 tips for using up refrigerator leftovers and reducing food costs.
In The Low Carbon Cookbook and Action Plan: Reduce Food Waste and Fight Climate Change with 140 Sustainable Plant-Based Recipes, Alejandra Schrader offers 140 plant-based, low-carbon recipes with local ingredients to help us fight climate change from our kitchens.
In The Preserving Garden, Jo Turner explains how to create a garden that produces food all year round. The book describes 43 different plants, along with recipes to help you get the most out of these ingredients.
In The Zero-Waste Kitchen: Simple Steps to Shop, Cook, and Eat Sustainably, Lindsay Miles helps eaters reduce their waste—from cutting down on single-use plastic packaging to making the most of leftover food—starting at the store.
In “The Zero Waste Chef,” Anne-Marie Bonneau shows that making the most of leftovers is easy and free.
In “Handbook for a Zero-Waste Kitchen: A Guide to Eating Healthy and Saving Money by Wasting Less Food,” Dana Gunders—food waste expert and executive director of ReFED—provides recipes and strategies, as well as helpful checklists to guide us through a zero-waste lifestyle.
In “Waste Not: How to Get the Most Out of Your Food,” the James Beard Foundation compiles 100 recipes from chefs like Rick Bayless, Elizabeth Falkner and Bryant Terry to help people use up ingredients that are often thrown away.
In “You Can Cook This! Transform the 30 Most Wasted Foods Into 135 Delicious Plant-Based Meals,” Max La Manna identified the 30 most wasted ingredients from tens of thousands of social media reactions and created recipes including cauliflower ragout, coffee grounds pancakes, and pasta with stem and herb pesto.
We’ve reached a “point where we need to move beyond just being mindful and actually start changing habits,” Yvette Cabrera, director of food waste at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told Food Tank.
I completely agree. Transforming the food system requires all of us to take action and stand up for what we believe in – and by prioritizing reducing food waste, we can start building a better food system with our next meal.
How do you reduce food waste in your own home? Share more ideas with me at [email protected].
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Photo courtesy of Marek Studzinski, Unsplash
