10 Ways to Reduce Food Waste For The Newbie Cook

18 months into cooking my meals, I’ve developed an internal system for staying on top of our produce to reduce food waste. But it has taken tossing moldy bagels, mushrooms and blueberries and countless limp celeries for me to get here. Yet, I still wasted some cheese last week!

As a society, I think we’re sorely lacking in knowledge of food spoilage and shelf life. I wish I’d learned how long the different food lasts when I was growing up so I didn’t have to learn with my gut feeling and rely on google searches.

However, even without experience and scientific knowledge of shelf lives, I find that there are ways to reduce food waste.

Why is it important to reduce food waste?

Globally, a third of the food produced is wasted every year, and the richer a nation is, the more food is wasted by consumers. Why? Because they have better buying power and food is more affordable. It’s a cruel irony.

Food waste is a huge problem. When we waste food, we not only waste the food we throw away, we also waste the resources that went into producing (like water and fertilizer or food for farm animals) and transporting them.

Eventually, food wastes that end up in landfills can’t decompose properly because they’re wrapped in plastic bags and buried beneath layers of trash, essentially creating an anaerobic condition. This causes the bacteria to produce copious amounts of methane, which is a bad greenhouse gas that traps more heat than carbon dioxide.

Food waste represents a source of wasted resources and carbon emission. In fact, if you want to lower your carbon footprint, one thing you can do is to reduce your food waste.

But the problem with food waste isn’t just an environmental one, it’s also a moral one. My frugal mom brought me up to not waste food. Her reason was always that we shouldn’t waste food because many in this world are starving. Although not wasting food wouldn’t magically channel the food to them, it’s an act of respect and gratitude.

On a side note, a lot of food waste occurs before consumers purchase their food, but that’s out of our immediate control, this article is focused on what we can do.

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10 Tips for not wasting food

Please note that I’m a pescatarian who only cooks vegetarian meals. Sorry, I don’t have tips for meat!

1. Know what your family likes to eat

Ever noticed that you never have to throw away chocolate and snacks because they got old? That’s because everyone loves them! They usually don’t get a chance to expire.

Pay attention to what type of vegetables, fruits, grains, and meat you or your family enjoys, then stick to those. If everyone likes broccoli, you can be more confident that it won’t get wasted if you buy it.

2. Keep ingredients versatile and recipes simple

One trick to minimizing food waste is to choose versatile ingredients that can be made into many different dishes. That way, if it’s at the end of its shelf life, there’s a higher chance that you can add it to what you were cooking for the day.

I love celery and carrot, because they can be used in soup, stews, stirfry, and even salad. Potatoes are superstars too – they can be baked, boiled, fried or steam and they’re awesome comfort food.

Also, choose recipes that use ingredients you already have at home, or can be used in many other dishes.

Avoid recipes that involve a dozen different ingredients because those require you to buy a dozen different things. With a dozen different things, you’re bound to not use several of it. In the end, they’re wasted. Of course, if you’re passionate about cooking and love using a bunch of different ingredients, it’s a different story.

3. Have a grocery list

Look into your fridge, and write down what you need to buy so you don’t end up having extra produce that you can’t finish using in time. This also helps you to stay on track in the supermarket so you don’t grab a bunch of items you don’t need.

Don’t buy more than you can use in time – even if there’s a sale. Unless you can freeze it, give it to someone, or eat the same thing for the next few days. It’s not worth it if you’ll end up wasting them.

Also, avoid pre-prepared items if you’re not sure if you’ll use them right away. They’ll spoil faster, and they’re also more expensive!

4. Commit to your purchase and get creative

You bought your product, please don’t let it down. I’ve done it before, I’ve bought miso that I ended up not using much of, and bought mushrooms that I didn’t cook in time.

Typically, people don’t enjoy eating the same thing several times a week, but some produce go bad fast. In a small household, you may find yourself using the same ingredient several times a week. To avoid getting sick of it, learn to cook it in different ways.

For example, we usually buy a 24oz box of mushrooms at Sam’s Club (best price in town!), and it’s good for 2 meals. The catch is, I have to cook them within 5 days. To keep things interesting, I’ve learned many different ways to cook them. I’m happy to say I haven’t wasted mushrooms in a while.

5. Befriend your freezer

Have an extra loaf of bread? Freeze it. Have extra tomato sauce? Freeze it! Can’t use all the blueberries in time? Definitely freeze it! You get the picture.

However, know that freezing food changes their texture and what you can do with them. For instance, frozen tomatoes become too soft when thawed and will only be good for soup and sauces.

Some things you shouldn’t freeze: rice, pasta, salad greens, vegetables and fruits with high water content, milk, yogurt, whole eggs, soft cheeses mayonnaise and cream.

Of course, we can’t forget about frozen vegetables! The plastic packaging makes them less desirable, but they’re perfect for avoiding food waste if you use only the amount you need. And you don’t have to worry about not using them in time.

6. Learn how to store food

Depending on what your family likes to eat, find out how to store those products. The Internet is our best friend!

Some tips: Berries and mushrooms must stay dry, and potatoes love darkness. Fruits like to chill, but tomatoes taste better at room temperature.

If you have leftovers, refrigerate/freeze them as soon as possible (within 90 minutes). Eat refrigerated leftovers within 3 days. Reheat thoroughly – make sure you see steam. Unless it’s a salad or fruits, of course.

7. Prioritize by perishability

Plan your meal around the perishability of your produce. Sometimes we let our taste buds decide what to cook for the day, that’s fine if all your produce is fresh, but if you have something that’s turning, cook it first!

Learn what goes bad first. This Foodkeeper app is pretty handy. Do note that the duration listed is for optimum freshness, it doesn’t mean that the product has to be thrown out.

It’s also a good practice to write down the date you purchased your produce or opened a carton of milk or broth so you don’t have to guess if it’s still good!

8. Check your fridge often

If you’re like me and you’re inexperienced with cooking, simply check your fridge often. Look at the produce, feel them, and cook what looks the oldest first. When you check your fridge often, there’s a smaller tendency to forget to use something.

9. Make stews and soups out of old produce

If you have a bunch of sad-looking vegetables, don’t toss them in the bin. Toss them into a pot to make stews or soups.

10. Compost!

Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we’ll still waste some food. In everyday cooking, we’ll generate food scraps too. Rather than tossing them, the best thing we can do is actually to compost them. By composting, we can divert 20 to 30% of wastes away from the waste stream.

Composting isn’t complicated, and it’s even easier if you have a yard. Just dig a hole in the dirt, toss in the food scraps of the day and cover the hole! It’ll decompose and release nutrients into the soil. Otherwise, you can start a compost bin/pile with garden dirt, dried leaves, food scraps, and water.

If your area has a compost collection center, you can also freeze your food waste and food scraps, then take it to the center when you have time.

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Final words

As we enter the season of delicious Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, it’s good to keep in mind that having food on the table isn’t a given. Be thankful, and be mindful of food waste! Refrigerate/freeze your leftovers in a timely manner and try your best to eat them in time!

On the other hand, while it’s important to reduce food waste, it’s equally important to protect yourself from food poisoning. Food poisoning can be very dangerous!

Engage all your senses when you evaluate your ingredients or food. Smell it. Look for color changes and fluffy mold, feel it for sliminess. When in doubt, do a search on the internet. If it doesn’t answer your doubts, don’t eat it.

Remember, it’s best to not let food get to that questionable stage. Fresh is best!

I hope you’ve found these ways to reduce food waste useful. Do you have other tips for combating food waste? Let me know in the comments!

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