Learn What You Can Do to Help Reduce Food Waste with  SWACO Save More Than Food Initiative

I’ve partnered with SWACO on this blog post to share more about their Save More Than Food Campaign. All opinions are my own unless otherwise noted.

Did you know, on average, a family of four in Central Ohio spends $2000 per year on food they throw away? When I heard that number, all the things I could spend $2000 on instantly came to mind, and none of them had to do with throwing the money away. What about you? What could you spend an extra $2,000 on?

With food costs increasing and many families feeling the pinch, SWACO’s Save More Than Food campaign reminds central Ohioans that leftovers are good for you, your wallet, and the environment. Leftovers shouldn’t get a bad rap – they are the easiest way families can save money and keep unnecessary waste out of the county landfill. With this campaign, their aim is to help the Central Ohio region cut its food waste in HALF by 2030. 

Sometimes it takes a few facts to put things into perspective…..

• 337 billion pounds of food are landfilled each year in Central Ohio. That’s enough to make food the single largest category of material entering the Franklin County Sanitary Landfill by weight.
• Growing the food we eat requires a lot of water, both on the farm and in preparing food for meals. Each year in Central Ohio, 30 gallons of water per person {41 billion gallons of water in total} are wasted by wasting food. That’s more water than goes over Niagra Falls in a month! 
• By wasting food, Central Ohio residents waste energy and fuel used to grow, harvest, and transport food- adding up to over 22 million gallons of gasoline!
• Wasting food has a real impact on our environment. The food wasted in Central Ohio each year required 160,000 acres of land to grow. That’s roughly half of Franklin County.
• 40% of food in America gets wasted. Every year, Franklin County residents miss 56 million meals. Meanwhile, the County sends 187 million meals to landfill!

Did you know?

• Eggs are safe to eat 3-5 weeks BEYOND their sell-by date. I never know how to test to make sure they’re still fresh, but I’ve learned it is super easy. If you put your eggs into a glass of water and it rests at the bottom of the glass, it is still good to eat! If it floats, it’s spoiled. 
• Many wilted leafy greens can be revived just by soaking them in ice water. 
• You can freeze many foods, including apples, peas, carrots, fish, bread, milk, cheese, lunch meat, potatoes and mussels. While your food is fully frozen, it will never become unsafe to eat. However, for optimal flavor, eat frozen foods within 6 months. 

Ways to Reduce Food Waste in our Everyday lives

SWACO has a great website – Save More Than Food – with incredible resources on recovering food before it goes to waste, including fun recipes and tricks to give ingredients a new life. Some of my favorite things to do with leftovers is to re-invent them. We love to make stir-frys, quesadillas, and sandwiches out of leftovers. Another fun thing is to have a Chopped style date night at home, where we must use what we have in the refrigerator and create something completely different! Whether it’s a hit or not, it is always fun. 

You can find ideas for everyday leftover recipes here.

I love these colored masking tapes for labeling. You can use different colors to organize (home/work/kids/etc.) and easily label with a permanent marker. They easily peel off when you’re ready to change it. It really helps with organization and knowing when things to need to be used by.

Knowing the proper way to store your food will make it last longer. The right storage can be the difference between a fresh meal and a lost one. Did you know that fresh herbs like basil and rosemary should be washed and kept in a vase like flowers? (No wonder mine goes bad quickly. I totally leave it in the plastic container it comes in.) Or that potatoes will last longer if stored in a paper bag in a dark place? (Not on the counter in a basket like I typically do.)

For safe storage and handling information on a variety of foods, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) recommends using the FoodKeeper app. The FoodKeeper helps you understand food and beverage storage and helps you maximize the freshness and quality of items. The app is available for Android and Apple devices, or online at FoodKeeper App. 

You can also use the interactive storage guide at Save the Food for tips, tricks, and info to keep your food fresh and tasty for as long as possible.

Both websites are filled with great information to help you make the most of your food and store it properly.

Here are a few of the resources available to help people learn how to shop smarter at the grocery store and make the most of the food you have at home.

I’ve recently learned that food expiration dates have nothing to do with safety and are only loosely related to quality! What?! I’m over here throwing things away because we missed the date by one day. Not anymore! The food expiration dates are the manufacturer’s best estimate of when the product is at its freshest or “peak quality.” Many of our foods will still be good to eat for days, weeks, or months after those dates. Of course, this depends on the food. I’m not suggesting you eat a 6-month-old banana….

.

Plan meals in advance. Use a shopping list at the store. Store food properly for safe and handy use. Develop use-it-all-up menus, including things like Chopped themed date nights at home and making the most of your freezer. These are all helpful and great ways to Reduce Food Waste in our everyday lives, but there has to be a commitment for it to work. The good news is – it doesn’t have to be this way. SWACO’s Save More Than Food campaign includes all the tips, tricks, and educational tools to help you along the way, avoiding waste and making leftovers more interesting. 

We Can Make a Difference!