From Chaos to Clarity: My April Fridge Experiment & Food Audit
From Chaos to Clarity: My April Fridge Experiment & Food Audit
Last week, I learned that I was a climate villain, and decided to take steps to correct this starting with food waste in my kitchen.
And what a week to start. This is embarrassing to admit, but this was my fridge a week after the flu struck my house:
I’m try to be mindful as I wipe down these shelves with my D.I.Y citrus spray, I’m not just cleaning up spilled juice; stagnant flu energy lurking, and I want to bring back some fresh, positive energy. I try not to judge myself. Something was bound to get missed in the flurry of fevers, but I still wonder about this food waste. How much money did we spend on this fridge full of food, a lot of which is going to end up in the trash?
And as I’m on a roll of admitting embarrassing things, I just happened to have an excuse this time. There have been plenty of times where life has been in a busy season, and the fridge has ended up looking pretty similar.
There have also been times I felt ambitious. I had decided that this was going to be the week where my family and I were going to eat healthy meals, but between two kids, my husband’s busy work schedule and dealing with my own health needs, Door Dash has saved the day.
As I’m working towards becoming a better homemaker, Witch and citizen of the Earth, I’ve decided to focus my efforts on reducing food waste this month (you can read some statistics about global food waste here).
What I’m Working With
I have limited space in my kitchen, and so when we first moved here, I decided to fix my pantry on the wall. The random packaging was visually bothersome to me, so I ended up decanting some things into mason jars. Yes it looks prettier, but I also found it calming, and I was able to see exactly what we had in stock.
Experiment Rules
So I’m using my pantry wall as inspiration for my fridge, the place where most food waste occurs in my home. Here are my April fridge experiment rules in order to reduce food waste:
- All produce gets decanted and prepped as much as possible.
I’ve read that storing some foods in glass jars makes them last longer (berries), and greens will last longer wrapped in a moist tea towel. So I’m going to play around and see what works for us.
I’ve also noticed that if I prepare fruit, my family are more likely to eat it. All produce will be washed and ready to eat!
- Have a ‘eat me first’ basket
To help things getting pushed to and lost at the the back of the fridge
- One dedicated night to leftovers
To make sure everything gets used up. And if we don’t have leftovers, I’ll feel better about getting takeout/going out for dinner.
- Everything gets labeled
Something I thought of as I was writing this post, but as I’m decanting a lot of things, I don’t want to miss best before/use by dates.
- Fresh produce gets stored where I can see it
The crisper drawers now hold a spot for raw meat, and the other one holds sauces, and cheeses. Cheese never seems to get missed in our home, so it will be interesting to see if its because it was at eye level, or if it’s just because we love cheese.
How will I decide if this experiment has been a success?
- Money will be saved
- Less produce will be thrown away
- Less meals out
At a Glance
An Invitation
In order to collect data, I’ll be using an observation tracker to make note of my family’s habit’s and food rhythm for the month. You can use this tracker too. No printer? No problem. Just grab a scrap of paper and use these 4 headers to start tracking.
If you find this tracker helpful, you’ll love the monthly ‘Hearth Notes’ I send out to my newsletter circle. We dive deeper into seasonal rhythms and D.I.Y. magic there! You can sign up right here!
Do you follow me on Instagram? You should! I’ll be posting regular updates about my tracker’s findings
Have you ever done a food audit in your home before? What did you find? Let me know below!
Wishing you all the cozy magic,
Amrita
