HOW TO AVOID FOOD WASTE
Tips from the Pirates Sports Nutrition and Fueling Team - Allison Maurer and Courtney Ellison
40% of the food supply in the United States is wasted or thrown away.Â
31% of this loss is at the retail and consumer level.
Use these strategies to reduce waste as the consumer and save yourself money
Refrigerate: apples, apricots, broccoli, plums, cucumbers, brussels sprouts, cantaloupe, cauliflower, and lettuce.
Leave out on the counter: peaches, avocados, nectarines, bananas, watermelon (whole), tomatoes.
Keep in a cool, dark place: potatoes, onions, and garlic. Stash separately in the kitchen cabinet or pantry so they don't absorb one another's odors.
Freeze cubes of broth: Use this broth straight from the freezer for extra flavor in cooking grains or sauces.
Cut and freeze herbs: Herbs that aren't used right away can be cut or frozen with vegetable oil in an ice cube tray. Just make sure you have the stove's heat on low so the oil cube can melt slowly and not burn. freeze the vegetable oil with the herbs! Just make sure you have the pan on low when you put the oil cube in so that it can slowly melt and not burn.
Use extra meatballs and sauce to make personal pizzas with veggies.
Toss leftover rice and pasta into soup.
Add veggie scraps when making chicken stock - or throw all your produce odds and ends together for a stir-fry.
Add greens to leftover Mexican food.
Keep items that spoil more quickly where you can see them: Milk, yogurt and other dairy products should be kept in the front of the refrigerator. Keep other quick-spoil products like soft fruit on the counter so you are more likely to grab them as a quick snack.
*Keep your pantry organized with items that will expire first towards the front so you can donate items like canned soup when you know you won't use them!
Vegetable scraps and bones can be easily re-purposed into homemade stocks.
For vegetable stock: Put the ends of onions, peppers, carrots, and celery in a gallon bag and store in your freezer. When you are ready to make your stock, just fill water enough to cover the scraps and let it simmer 1 hour.
Using chicken bones: Store bones in a gallon freezer-bag. Add some vegetable scraps like onion and celery and bay leaf or thyme, cover with water and simmer for 1 hour.
