wasted food (Full Version)

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hisannabelle -> wasted food (7/11/2008 8:14:26 PM)

i came across this article which discusses some of britain's issues with food waste and also looks at the problem from a wider perspective as well. the part that really struck me personally was at the end, though -

quote:

Steve Webb, the Lib Dem environment spokesman, said: "The problem of food waste has been made worse by the government's failure to get tough with supermarkets. Its cosy relationship with the big chains has stalled effective action. "Supermarkets make it harder for householders to avoid food waste, while throwing away large quantities of edible food through poor stock management. "They refuse to stock small portions, which are essential for the growing number of one-person households, and offer too many buy-one-get-one-free deals on perishable goods."

this has definitely been my experience personally (in the us). i grew up cooking for 6 people; i've been living on my own for 3 years now and i still haven't gotten used to cooking for 1. due to certain constraints my options are limited to supermarkets in terms of buying food, and one of the things i hate the most is the fact that often the smallest package of something still has way more than i could use before the expiration date.
do you feel like food waste affects you? why/why not? what ways have you adapted your shopping/storage to cut down on food waste? what viable solutions do you think exist?



pahunkboy -> RE: wasted food (7/11/2008 8:28:05 PM)

household of 1 here.   buy 1 get 1 free sales - end up- well ill give the other to a neighbor.

I think I will have a sandwhich.



Thadius -> RE: wasted food (7/11/2008 8:40:32 PM)

In terms of meats and other freezable foods, perhaps getting a small chest freezer.  This way when you get the bulk package of meat home, you can subdivide it into portions you would use, and freeze them seperately.  This will also allow for less shopping.

With the buy one get one frees... if you know you aren't going to be able to use the item before expiration, I am sure you can think of a local organization that is in need of donations.  This way you are killing 2 birds with one stone, so to speak.

Just a couple of quick thoughts,
Thadius



hisannabelle -> RE: wasted food (7/11/2008 8:44:52 PM)

thanks both of you! :) i already do those things but hopefully the suggestions will be helpful. mostly i just wish having access to smaller portions of canned goods and fresh foods were more common here.



writerly808 -> RE: wasted food (7/11/2008 9:39:59 PM)

Personally, the opposite problem, plus hgh (and rising) prices affects my household (I live at home still). We're a family of nine who do a LOT of cooking from scratch because it's just plain cheaper to do so. A lot of things don't come in effective portion sizes for decent prices, which does, at times, mean it's cheaper to buy two of a certain size. However, doubling up certain things adds up quickly, or so I've observed (so not the main shopper, here).

I'm sure I'll have the opposite problem of finding effective portion sizes for one or two people when that becomes the way I live. (The fact that I scoff at a lot of pre-made foodstuffs will probably not help that endeavour.)

I figure that there has to be a way to satisfy both the people who do large-scale cooking regularly, and the people who've only themselves, or maybe one or two others. Something to think about is that this problem wasn't so prominent (in the average family) before pre-made foods became all the rage, because when you're cooking stuff from scratch, you can measure portions out to sizes that please individuals rather than forcing them to double up or divide what's already there because a) they require higher/lower calories or b) they're simply more or less hungry than the packaged stuff would provide for. Which basically makes a lot of this stuff marketing and money-grubbing ploys. IMO.

Besides which, pre-packaged foods have more things that cause people to gain weight than other things do. I have never in my life dieted. I have almost never eaten less than I'm hungry for. I suppose I gorge myself at times (stuffing and gravy is worth it *any* time of year :D). Junk food is a treat in this house. None of us have health issues with weight; I probably weigh close to 150, and I can guarantee you that most of that is bone and muscle - and yet, I'm sure a doctor would compare my weight and height and say I'm unhealthily overweight. I don't look it; perhaps a bit padded... *g*

But seriously. It's definitely an individual thing, though I doubt there are many people who can scarf junk food regularly and not end up, ehhh, padded. (I'm sure high-end metabolisms [wow, it took me like five minutes to remember that word...I hate it when they fly away and then tease me by sitting riiiiight out of reach!] could process it, though. *shrug*) Thing is that a lot of pre-packaged stuff is essentially junk-food, or otherwisely unhealthy for certain persons, and fresh and/or individual ingredients seem to be slowing phasing out - or becoming "specialized foods", which in my experience, *always* cost more.

...I think I got off-topic. Sorry! 



sunshinemiss -> RE: wasted food (7/12/2008 2:48:47 AM)

I have in the past done the split thing with friends at the farmer's market ... I buy the bag of oranges, she buys the bunch of asparagus and we split them....

But it's the supermarkets... I didn't have this problem in other countries I've lived in... heck no... I will resist telling you stories...



pahunkboy -> RE: wasted food (7/12/2008 4:25:10 AM)

the sharing works out great.   I do it with-out expecting tit for tat return. I dont keep score.  I dont insist that I get something of equal value in return, and by a certain day.

I find that the other party- often -will bump into too much food [you know to be used while fresh]  that she shares.  

Someone close to your home is best for this.       Somehow I run into some  irresistable deals....



pahunkboy -> RE: wasted food (7/12/2008 4:27:20 AM)

oh- this is good too for fatening sweets.   suppose i want 2 small portions, but the package has 8, I send it next door where she has growing teenagers...and they love it.  :-)



kdsub -> RE: wasted food (7/12/2008 5:32:21 AM)

Hello hisannabelle

Off the subject just a little and not sure if this would apply to your supermarket...At my market, unless an item is specifically marked, you can purchase one item of a buy one get one free for half price.

Butch



lighthearted -> RE: wasted food (7/12/2008 7:33:01 AM)

I hate throwing away food...fortunately I have enough experience cooking that I've got the "no leftovers" thing down.  (I generally am cooking for three).  it did take time to learn this tho, and my meals are pretty simple...a protein, a vegetable and a starch.  any leftovers are consumed (usually by me [>:]) the following day for lunch. 

if I've got anything hanging around more than a day or so, I do what's called "leftover extravaganza" for dinner.  it's not meant to be a gourmet meal, it's meant to keep good food from being thrown away, so no one's expecting it to be "perfect".  if I have to cook something extra to help round that out, I do, but generally not.



Termyn8or -> RE: wasted food (7/12/2008 8:09:15 AM)

I am assuming, hopefully correctly, that everyone has a refrigerator and each has a freezer section.

I think it boils down to the kind of food you want to eat. You can freeze ground meat, but not a hamburger. You can't freeze a salad. You can freeze most veggies but some you need to blanch first. You can freeze tomatoes, but you can't freeze a plate of spagetti.

Actually Thursday I made my famous chicken paprikash. Now we have money, but things are tight, and I got tired of feeding everyone I know. It was nice making it with six or seven chickens and everbody stops over BYOT (Bring Your Own Tuppeware). With what is happening to the economy, those days are over.

Sure I could do it, I can afford it, but I choose to stop doing it while I still have a choice. So I used four thighs. Nice biguns, but just four thighs. Actually it may have come out better, all dark meat.

Anyway, anything in the way of soups, stews or sauces can be frozen. Use the freezer. Certain things you need fresh, but other than that, this should not be a huge problem.

T



MmeGigs -> RE: wasted food (7/12/2008 8:55:36 AM)

Those "Debbie Meyer Green Bags" they advertise on TV really work just the way they say they do.  We got some and tested them out with various things, and they kept stuff fresh MUCH longer than other storage options.  They've really cut down on the amount of this stuff that goes bad and gets thrown out around here.

When I lived alone and cooked for one, I got used to some lack of variety.  Knowing that everything came in packages that were more than I needed and that I was not reliable about getting things in the freezer, if I was buying a pack of 3 chicken breasts I'd plan on eating chicken the next 3 nights. 

No matter how many people there are in the household, you'll end up with less waste and expense if you plan a menu, make a shopping list of just the things you need for the meals you've planned, and eat before you go to the grocery store so that you'll stick to the list.  Things are getting tight in our household, so I'm getting more serious about that.  I look at the food ads that come out in the Tuesday paper and let that guide my menu planning for the week.  I do a better job now of getting things into the freezer, which has become more than the place that unwanted leftovers go to die. 



PanthersMom -> RE: wasted food (7/12/2008 10:12:19 AM)

we have 6 in our family but occasionally have kids i babysit at dinner time.  i cook enough for everyone, but any leftovers go into the fridge.  thursdays are clean out the kitchen night, anything that hasn't been eaten as a snack or a lunch has to be finished off thursday night.  it works well for us, someone always has something they like better than everyone else so they get that and they're happy.  when it was me and my ex before the kids, i would freeze half of everything i made so we'd have meals already cooked on nights when we worked late.  the microwave got alot of use then.
PM



Termyn8or -> RE: wasted food (7/12/2008 10:16:01 PM)

Smugly smiling because I never thought I would live this long.

I am old enough to remember when there were no microwave ovens :-)

Who remembers reheating pizza in a frying pan, or putting a big glob of frozen spagetti sauce in a pan with the heat of a gas stove turned down literally as low as it goes ? And of course then waiting about an hour. Soaking down buns and throwing them in the oven. Roast, potatoes and veggies from Sunday in the frypan on Wednesday ? And that actually led to the invention of something I happen to like, fried mashed potatoes.

Yup, kids today will never have it as good as we did.

T



TheHeretic -> RE: wasted food (7/12/2008 10:26:23 PM)

       What waste?  What's left gets mixed in with the dog food.  They'll both eat absolutely anything except pineapple.



Leatherist -> RE: wasted food (7/12/2008 10:28:03 PM)

The packaging sucks, and is designed to force you to buy and spend more than you really need. A lot of what I buy goes to waste before I can get around to eating it. I'd really rather just buy what I need for a few days at a time. And bugs will try to get into a lot of the non perishible grain stuff. If it doesn't already come with bug eggs included-courtesy of crappy chinese hygenic practices in distribution. It's just LOVELY to open up a package of rice or cereal, and find it swarming with worms or weevils. Thanks, Wu Fong!

What can we do? We can pester. We can ask the managers for smaller portions. We can refuse to buy overpackaged goods. We can buy cloth shopping bags, and keep them in the car trunk ALWAYS. We can quit buying shit that comes in plastic and glass bottles.

We can tell our nieghbors and people in the stores when we find products that are routinely infested with insects. And we can boycott.



Vendaval -> RE: wasted food (7/12/2008 11:42:41 PM)

Greetings annabelle,
 
When I was first learning to cook my big dog ate a lot of mistakes.  Many years haved passed and now there is just one kitty here who likes his Iams.
 
So for the people food I am either buying larger amounts that store easy or smaller amounts of perishables.  There are ziploc bags and containers to make life easier; these are washed, rinsed and reused.
 
I was in the habit of making one major shopping trip per week, but to reduce spoilage am switching over to 2 or 3 smaller trips per week.





Vendaval -> RE: wasted food (7/12/2008 11:44:14 PM)

You know what Rich, I had a dog that would sit in the backyard with me sharing strawberries and grapes.  Go figure...



Vendaval -> RE: wasted food (7/12/2008 11:46:47 PM)

So those do work?  Good to know, I was thinking of ordering them the other day.

quote:

ORIGINAL: MmeGigs

Those "Debbie Meyer Green Bags" they advertise on TV really work just the way they say they do.  We got some and tested them out with various things, and they kept stuff fresh MUCH longer than other storage options.  They've really cut down on the amount of this stuff that goes bad and gets thrown out around here.




pahunkboy -> RE: wasted food (7/13/2008 7:29:53 AM)

On electric stoves- the burner cycles on, then off- the heat is not constant like gas.

The homeless shelter -gives its moldy rolls to a farmer.  he feeds livestock with it.

We have a running bag.  --I put what I wont use in it, send it to Jenny,  she takes and puts, sends to Mark, who takes and puts, who then sends it to Lori who takes puts, who sends it to Heather who takes, puts, who then send the bag to me- ...to do the cycle again.  Note- anything is put in.  toilletries, household stuff, clothing.  We at times have a few bags going.  When stuff -that none in our group want- then it gets donated.   A few of us have someone we know who would use say the black olives....

So we all have saved money over the years.

My fridge is 4.3 cubic feet.  If I load it right- it is big enough. [household of 1]

Ohhhhh-  a broken coffee maker was sent up to Jenn,  well she called the manufaturer and got a replacemenbt basket- being the type that is on a timer- she uses it all the time now.

coffee grounds  -never throw them away!!  toss them in the yard.   they are great for the soil.  typically we lose alot of top soil... every house should do this.

helpful hint- if i am not sure a person would use say the broken item,- i will ask- would you have any use for .....   this way it could be stealthly directed and not an insult.... [as a broken coffee pot could be]

I have gotten irked by buying so many plug in gadgets from thrift stores.  the last one, a bread maker-  [all sales are final]  when i was in teh neighborhood I just set it in the parking lot.   hmmm- the cord is worth a few cents due to copper wire...lol



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