Food Waste Prevention Tips

• Freezing is like hitting the “pause” button on food. You can freeze almost anything, including bread, (shelled) eggs, milk, cheese, and leftovers.
• Keep a bag in the freezer to store veggie scraps (such as herb stems, peels, unused celery). When the bag is full, throw the content in a pot, add water, boil… and enjoy homemade veggie stock (which you can also freeze!). Add chicken or beef bones to make chicken or beef stock (carcasses and bones can also be frozen until ready to use). Here are some recipes(PDF, 177KB) to make your own stock or broth. 
• Make crumbs out of leftover bread, chips, crackers, and keep in a freezer bag to have an ever-changing mix to top casseroles and other baked dishes.
• Use silicone ice cube trays to freeze herbs (add oil to cover), lemon or lime juice, tomato paste, coconut milk, and more. Recipes often call for small quantities of these ingredients which you will now always have on hand. 

• Properly storing food will ensure that food stays fresher longer. For example, did you know that eggs should not be kept in the refrigerator door? Keep them in the main part of the refrigerator, which is cooler.
• For more storage tips, visit savethefood.com/storage

Organize your fridge:

• Keep a basket or a shelf in your fridge with an “Eat This First” sign on it for items that need to be consumed in priority.
• Don’t overfill your fridge so you can see more easily what’s in it that needs to be consumed. To that effect, try shopping more often but in smaller quantities.
• At least once a week, have a leftovers night. Get creative and see what you can prepare with items that have been lingering in the fridge. 

Understand date labels and “expiration” dates:

• Did you know that date labels are not federally mandated except for baby formula? Best by, best before, enjoy by, sell by indicate peak freshness, not food safety. Rely on your taste buds and sense of smell to determine if food is still good to eat. Shelf stable food in particular will be safe to eat way beyond the date on the item. Watch this five minuthttps://notreallyexpired.com/e video by Harvard School to learn more.

Shop Smart:

• Make a list before going grocery shopping and stick to it and avoid making impulse purchases that you may not get to in time (such as that bag of lettuce that will inevitably rot after three days).
• Buy imperfect fruits and vegetables – they taste just as good and are as nutritious as their “perfect” counterparts but are more likely to be tossed by the grocer. Most grocers also offer bags of imperfect produce at a discount in the produce aisle.
• Buying the last item discourages grocers to stock shelves to create the illusion of abundance. People often avoid buying the last item thinking there is something wrong with it, which causes good food to go to waste.
• The average family of four wastes $1,800 of food each year. Keep that fact in mind when shopping for bulk “deals”– chances are you will throw away the savings.
• Shop in the bulk section so you can select the exact amount of food you would like to buy. Save money and avoid packaging waste as well in the process! 

When all else fails, compost:

• The priority should always be to reduce wasting food to avoid the waste of resource that went into producing it. Any waste that can’t be avoided should be composted instead of landfilled.
• Go to Denvergov.org/gogreen to sign-up for the Denver Composts program.
• Food scraps (including bones) and yard scraps can be composted. Check out Denvergov.org/gogreen for a full list of compostable items. 

Become a food waste superhero at work:

• Create a calendar appointment to remind yourself that you have leftovers in the fridge.
• Send an email to colleagues to alert them of leftover catered food that is up for grabs.
• Store leftover catered food in the fridge after it has been sitting out. Remember to let people know the food in the fridge is available for consumption. 
• Adjust catering orders down slightly. Caterers usually add 5% overage to orders, and it’s smart to order 5% less food.