Every week, I post a picture of the food that has gone bad over the last seven days. Why do I do this? Because in March of 2008, I finally got fed up with the amount of food I was wasting, and I thought that showing my waste to other people would motivate me to use up my food instead of wasting it. Because this often embarrassing practice was so helpful for me, I invited other bloggers to join me in posting their food waste photos, and Food Waste Friday was born.
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A reader sent me an NPR article that talks about which foods are the worst to throw out.
It’s a quick read…go check it out!
Unsurprisingly, meat is the worst offender. I used to throw out my fair share of meat in the past because my leftover habits and shopping habits weren’t really great.
(Here’s a post about the biggest ways I changed my habits: Ten Ways to Stop Wasting Food)
These days, most of my food waste is comprised of compostable produce, though, and I rarely have to throw meat out.
In keeping with that:
I had an unfortunate experience with an avocado. It was starting to get a little rotten in spots, but when I cut it open, it was mostly hard.
I managed to eat half of it, but couldn’t bring myself to ingest the other half. So I composted it.
Oh well. I get my avocados from Aldi, and this is one of the first bad ones I’ve gotten out of hundreds I’ve bought, so I’d say that’s a pretty decent track record.
I don’t know why, but the avocados from Aldi are almost always better than what I can buy at a regular grocery store. And they’re so affordable!
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Deborah
Sunday 31st of August 2014
Avocado's are great beauty products as well.
Connie
Thursday 7th of August 2014
I am known as the leftover queen (lol) so I thought I would share some things that I do....we had some assorted leftovers from the Mexican restaurant (meat and veggie fillings, corn sandwich bun, avocado, etc) I browned ground turkey with taco spice and sauteed this with all the various bits, added liquid and served it over rice, HUGE hit. Another hit, trust me on this one, almost any pasta and grain salad is good sauteed and adding more of what might be missing and served with a protein. (chicken, meat, legumes, etc.) Any leftover bread product can baked into croutons or crumbs. Any dried out/stale bakery product or cereal or cooked cereal can be made into cookies. Just adjust the flour and moisture within a standard recipe. I haven't seen Frankenfood, but will for sure. Maybe they have shown some of these ideas?
Liz @ Economies of Kale
Monday 4th of August 2014
I had a few unfortunate experiences with meat so now I freeze it all as soon as I bring it home (sometimes portioning it up first if necessary). It has meant my meat waste has gone down, but sometimes makes for a very full freezer!
WilliamB
Saturday 2nd of August 2014
No waste this week.
I'm giving myself a pass on the lunch on a business trip. Eating all of the Food Court meal even though I was no longer hungry is a bad idea, but I had no way to cart it home.
I'm also doing great on emptying out the freezer. Since my goal is to empty out the freezer rather than not spend money, I can buy whatever food is needed to make the frozen food into a tasty meal. The dribs and drabs continue to be challenging in both good and bad ways.
Jen Y
Friday 1st of August 2014
I've had the same problem with avocados recently. I wait for it soften but it turns brown before it's soft - I've had to throw away quite a few this summer for that reason.