FOOD EDUCATION - RESCUED FOOD
“Food is a weapon.
Ugly produce needs love, too. Due to cosmetic standards, most oddly shaped fruits and vegetables rarely make it to the grocery store shelf, but at the farmers market, you can find less-than-perfect-looking but perfectly delicious specimens. Help boost the demand for produce that would otherwise go to waste, while giving these unsung heroes a good home.
Love your leftovers. Eat them as-is, or give them a fresh twist by tossing them in salad, into a taco, or scrambling them with eggs. Some foods, like soups and curries, are even better on day two.
Unleash your inner artist. Let food waste inspire your culinary creativity. Turn watermelon rinds into pickles, overripe avocados into chocolate mousse, or carrot tops into pesto.
Eat in order of operations. Eat food in the order of purchase. First in the fridge, first out (FIFO)! When dining out, order wisely and take any leftovers home. Every couple days, take an inventory of your fridge to make sure items don’t get forgetten. See what you have on hand before shopping or eating out.
The freezer is your friend. When you can’t eat it all, store excess food in the freezer to extend its edible lifespan. To retain nutrition and color, blanch vegetables by immersing them in boiling water for several minutes and then plunging them in ice-cold water before freezing. Pack in an airtight bag to avoid freezer burn.
Be a clever chef. Go ahead and eat those strawberry tops and cucumber ends. Don’t worry about cutting out those tomato cores. Laziness in the kitchen means less goes into the compost.
Store smarter. Don’t let good produce go bad. Many produce items spoil prematurely due to poor storage, so get to know the storage needs of different fruits and vegetables. For example, tomatoes keep best at room temperature, while greens stay freshest placed in a plastic bag with a paper towel in the refrigerator crisper drawer. One rotten apple does indeed spoil the bunch, so compost any damaged items (keeping the still-edible parts) to avoid letting spoilage spread.
Know your refrigerator’s microclimates. Did you know that not all refrigerator shelves are created equal? The lowest shelves are the coolest place to store foods with a high safety risk like meats and poultry, while ready-to-eat or pre-cooked items like leftovers can be stored on the slightly warmer upper shelves. The fridge door is the warmest zone, so it’s best for storing condiments (not dairy or eggs).
Get creative in the kitchen and learn how to ferment all kinds of leftover foods.
Fermented vegetable treats offer a cunning way to use up your leftovers and cut your food waste, which is great for the planet. They taste amazing, they're great for your health, and they make great gifts too.
Fermented Carrots Recipes
To make fermented carrots, you'll need:
3 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
1 1/2 tbsp of salt to add to water
2 cups of water - or enough to fill the jar
2-4 carrots
1 tsp of cumin and a small knob of chopped ginger – optional, but really tasty.
Roughly slice 3 cloves of garlic and place at the bottom of your glass jar. Next, add your carrot batons, salt and water, then place the ginger and cumin at the top, and seal.
Once the lid is closed, invert the contents to mix the ingredients thoroughly. Leave for 3 days, and you will have yourself a fiendishly-good fridge snack. the bright colours make for a beautiful bright gift too.
When all else fails, compost. If after all these measures you still have food scraps, put them in the compost bin, not the garbage. Food waste rotting in landfills accounts for 25 percent of methane emissions in the Europe, while composting reduces our climate impact and recycles nutrients to grow more food.
