Q: What can I do with extra food?

A: That’s a great question, and we’ll get to the answers shortly! First, it’s worthwhile to consider how to avoid having food waste. Here are some helpful food waste reduction tips and tricks to manage and store food after visiting the grocery store.

 

Despite our best efforts, we all sometimes end up with more food than we can eat. Instead of throwing food away, we have a lot of options that can help our wallets, other people and the planet.

Get Creative in the Kitchen

Sometimes we are just tired of our leftovers. But instead of thinking of leftovers as meals, we can think of them as ingredients for making new dishes. Leftover veggies, meats and grains can easily be transformed into a new meal such as a casserole, a pasta dish or soups. To see what you can do with food that is starting to go bad, or for recipe inspiration from leftovers or raw ingredients, check out Love Food Not Waste.

Freeze It

Not feeling those leftovers at the moment? Freeze them for later!

While you can freeze just about anything, there are a few guidelines to follow. For example, make sure hot food has cooled down before storing in the freezer to avoid freezer burn. Do not leave uncooked or thawing food out of the refrigerator or freezer for more than a couple hours. Transfer refrigerated leftovers to the freezer within four days and be cautious about mold or slime. Also, be intentional about eating the frozen meals that can get lost in the back of the freezer – make a plan to eat them and avoid unintended waste.

Donate It

One of the most impactful options you have for your extra food is to donate it. About one in eight Americans faces hunger, according to Feeding America, and about forty percent of food grown, processed and transported in the United States is never eaten.

Donate unwanted food to Second Harvest Food Bank or another nearby food bank. Keep in mind that food banks and charities will typically only accept non-perishable items.

If your backyard fruit trees produce more than you can use, there are local groups that can pick and distribute the extras to others.

Repurpose Food Scraps and Waste

We can use some food scraps (carrot, celery and apple peels are nutritious dog favorites) or cooked meats and grains (not heavily seasoned) to feed our furry friends. See a list of human foods that dogs can eat.

Don’t have a furry friend in your life? You can also use vegetable scraps to grow new food. Many veggie scraps can be grown right on your windowsill with no need for an outdoor garden!

Compost It

Another environmentally friendly home for your fruit, veggie and grain food scraps is your backyard compost pile. Backyard composting keeps organic material out of the landfill, creates rich soil and helps combat climate change through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Don’t have a backyard compost pile? If you’re interested, sign up for a free online home composting class and learn how to get started. Otherwise, rest assured that in San José, organics from your garbage are separated after collection and composted. Learn more about the process here.

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