Food Waste in the Home Kitchen

Every kitchen struggles with minimizing food waste. I spend every week asking myself how I can reduce the amount I wind up throwing away every weekend. The unfortunate truth is that I throw away way too much. My produce wilts and dies, forgotten in the drawers. I’m guilty of leaving raw meat in the shelves too long and tossing steak-- yes, steak-- when it goes bad. How do I combat these behaviors within myself in my day to day? I have discovered a few tactics to try over the next few weeks, and besides giving you this article about my plans, I’m also planning to share the meals I create while cutting back on food waste.

1. Keep a Clean Fridge

This one is a struggle for me at literally all times. I can’t see the back of my fridge on probably any shelf. I can only see the inside of my door on virtue of the fact the shelves there aren’t very deep at all. I’ve got leftovers in there so old, I’d be better off throwing away the entire tupperware they’re stored in than expose myself to whatever has grown inside of them. There are far too many plastic bags of dried, leafy greens, and that’s precisely why this one is coming as number one on our list.

If I were better about getting rid of the old, I might appreciate the new when I bring it home each week. So, starting this week, I will be starting from scratch. Sunday, expect a before and after view of the nightmare that is the Eating Normal refrigerator. Every Sunday after, we’ll talk about how I utilized the newfound space and access to my ingredients to the highest capacity.

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