The first time I raised hogs for my own family’s table, I got a strange request from my Grandma Lou Lou. We were chatting about how to make the perfect sausage-she was letting me borrow her meat grinder and was an expert on the matter. She shared her tips and tricks and then asked if I would save the pig brains for her. She loved nothing more than brains and eggs and hadn’t had it in a long time. Now I understood what the saying, “Nothing wasted but the squeal,” meant! I come from a long line of Floyd County subsistence farmers and food was not wasted. No one could afford to waste it, simple as that. Times have changed and food is easier to come by now, but the food waste ethic remains intact and an important part of my life.
According to Feeding America, the largest charity in the United States working to end hunger, 92 billion pounds of food is wasted annually in the US, equal to 145 billion meals. Over $473 billion worth of food is thrown away annually and 38% of all the food in America is wasted. Not only is food waste a huge issue for food insecurity, it is an environmental disaster. Earth.org, an environmental news site, reports that food waste in the US is equivalent to the greenhouse emissions of 37 million cars. Food waste is the single most common material landfilled and incinerated in the US, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. These staggering statistics can take the joy right out of your dinner.
So, what can we do to reduce our personal food waste? I have sat at the feet of some thrifty Appalachian grandmothers and here are some things that I have learned:
Make a plan
Every Sunday I sit down with the calendar and make a menu for the week. Then, I make a list of the things that we need to buy. Sticking to this menu helps reduce our food waste and grocery budget. I even put on the calendar things like, “soak the beans” or “take the chicken out of the freezer” so that dinner prep is easier and faster. A wise person once told me. “You can make dinner in 5 minutes, just not the 5 minutes before you eat.”
Grow your own
Raising my own food, whether animal, vegetable or fruit, has taught me how to use it all and let very little go to waste. When you invest sweat equity into your food, you are less likely to waste it. Not everyone wants to live on a farm, but we can all grow herbs in a windowsill pot. Every bit of food you grow not only reduces food waste, it also lessens the carbon footprint of the food you consume.
Eat locally and in season
Much of the food waste in the US comes from shipping it across countries to get it to our grocery store shelves. When we eat locally and with the seasons, less food is wasted in transport. Take it a step further and preserve food when there is bounty. Many local farmers sell in bulk so that you may can, freeze or dry food at the peak of freshness.
Find and connect with your local Floyd farmers in the Floyd Food Guide.
Stretch your food from one meal to two or three
When we cook a chicken at our house, we roast it for dinner one night, pick off the leftover meat for chicken salad, then put whatever is left in the slow cooker to make chicken broth. The same can be done for veggies-any trimming can be saved and made into rich, healthy stock. There is a great cookbook, available in the Jessie Peterman Memorial Library in Floyd, called “Cooking with Scraps: Turn Your Peels, Cores, Rinds, and Stems into Delicious Meals” by Lindsay-Jean Hard.
Compost
When there is food waste, don’t send it to the landfill. Create a compost pile to turn that waste into brown gold for your garden. Don’t have room for a compost pile in your yard? There are local businesses that can help.
Find out more about composting in our directory listing about recycling food waste.
Use those leftovers
I intentionally make a plan for leftovers. If we have pinto beans and cornbread for dinner, I use the leftover beans for chili or tacos the next night. Planning ahead for leftovers keeps them from molding in the back of the fridge;) When you go out to eat, save leftovers for lunch. While you’re at it, bring your own container for leftovers to save plastic. Say no thanks to single use plastic utensils and pack a zero waste lunch with a reusable water bottle.
Learn more about creative leftovers in our directory listing about reusing food waste.
Donate
If you grow a bumper crop of eggplant in your garden, or host a party and don’t use all the food you thought you would, there are many food pantries in Floyd County that would be happy to route your food to those who can really benefit from it.
For a complete listing of Floyd food pantries, visit the Floyd Food Guide.
These are some tips and tricks that work well for my family to reduce our food waste. How do you reduce your food waste? Email at us at info@floydresource.org to submit your ideas.
Angie Dulaney LeNoir lives and works alongside her extended family at Highland Farm in the Wangle Junction area of Floyd.