Results From April’s Food Waste Experiment
Last month, my goal was to reduce food waste in my home, especially my fridge.
In case you missed the previous post, my method was the following:
- All produce gets decanted and prepped as much as possible.
- Have a ‘eat me first’ basket
- One dedicated night to leftovers
- Everything gets labeled
- Fresh produce gets stored where I can see it
And the below was how I was going to decide if the experiment had been a success:
- Money will be saved
- Less produce will be thrown away
- Less meals out
In order to learn our food behaviour patterns as a family, I have also been logging the food waste we did have on my food observation tracker. Our printer decided it didn’t want to print anymore though, so you’ll have to believe that these scribbles are hard scientific observational data.
And the findings are as follows:
Things That Worked Really Well:
Prepping
Prepping ingredients and snacks so they are edible/usable straight from the fridge has felt easier. My family has said it took one step away, which has made it feel easier. Even though they agreed, for example, that washing an apple isn’t difficult to do. Knowing that all the apples in the fridge were ‘good to go’ made them more likely to pick the apple out of the fridge, instead of doing that thing where you open the fridge and wonder why it’s full of food you don’t want.
Decanting
Decanting/storing food that was prepared and put into clear containers has reduced our food waste. We can see exactly what we have, and how much we have of it.
When we stored food in non-clear containers, it was less likely to be picked/checked.
At times, it has felt like a bit of a waste to not use original packaging. But for the most part, I made peace with the fact it would be getting recycled/trashed eventually, and I’ve been using glass jars and containers I already had.
Fresh Produce Stored within Eye Sight
I know the fridge crisper drawers are designed to prolong the life of fruit and vegetables, but for me, it was just a place where fruit and veg went to die.
Since storing fruit and veg within my eyeline, we have used nearly all of it up.
The drawers are storing things like dairy and raw meats now. I like the fact that raw meat has it’s own section, and my family loves cheese too much to not actually look for it.
Composting
I’ve re-started composting again! It’ll be a few months before I see results, but being able to feed out compost has been helpful. Check out this blog post here to see the kinds of food that can be composted.
Things That didn’t Work Well
Eat Me First Basket
This just didn’t work for my family, and I can’t say exactly why.
Having all the food prepped and decanted into containers has meant we’ve typically gone through food at a quicker rate, without it getting too close to the end of its life.
I also do 99% of the cooking, and was able to keep a pretty good track of what we had, and how long we had it for. If I felt something needed to be used up, I incorporated it into the meals we were having that day or it went in the compost.
Dating Foods
Again, for similar reasons above, I didn’t find the need to date and label everything in the fridge.
The only food I found myself really moving into glass containers has been fruit, vegetables, cheeses (after I grated), and leftovers. Typically, we got through the food fast enough. I might have to change this if we have guests over, or when my kids get old enough for me to trust them to cook.
Food that ended up in the freezer though definitely gets labeled though.
Did I Meet My Success Criteria?
Money will be saved
We have not saved money on our groceries.
Half the people in my household have food allergies, which means I have to prioritize safety over cost at times. I’m still trying to navigate and learn this, and I’ve ended up having to make some expensive choices to ensure I’m getting guaranteed safe products.
Also, I feel like groceries are just getting more bloody expensive.
Less produce will be thrown away
We have definitely thrown away less produce. I am proud to say we’ve been getting our five-a-day!
Less meals out
I’m pleased to say that this has been a success for the most part.
Having most of the food prepped meant I was scrambling less when it came time to cook. Managing a toddler, and trying to cook a meal while getting ready to pick up kiddo one from school and prep for after school activities is a juggling act I do not enjoy. Meal planning and prepping (instead of just meal planning) has helped immensely with this.
Though on nights it was my husband’s turn to cook, he ordered take out, and I didn’t care because I didn’t have to do anything.
Overall
My kitchen is by no means perfect. My toddler manages to squirrel away an impressive amount of food on his high chair that we don’t discover until after the meal is done, and recently, I almost lost my cool when my daughter told me she threw away a bowl of strawberries because they were too wet from being washed.
But we’ve started to take steps towards reducing our food waste. I feel incredibly guilty and stupid at times that I’m in my 40s and I still haven’t figured this out. But I have to remind myself we all start somewhere. And even though I have some ways to go, the fact that I have started counts.
Though this plan was originally only for April, I plan on pushing on with it for the foreseeable future.
So on that note, what has been your best food reduction practice in your kitchen? Let me know below!
Until the next magical mess,
Amrita
