Americans throw away an estimated 38 million tons of food a year.
That adds up to about 218 billion dollars down the trash shoot.
It is needless to say, throwing away the food you forgot about in the back of your fridge can add up.
“The volume and the waste and also the cost,” says Loraine Cira, Nutritionist.
To avoid wasting your food and money Cira says make more frequent trips to the store and make a menu to shop from.
“Usually I tell people to shop for three days. Plan your menu out for three days and then build on possibly left overs.”
Leftovers are inevitable, but that doesn’t mean you have to eat the same dish for the next three days. Repurpose your ingredients by adding proteins, grains, and a different flavor to help make yesterdays dinner taste like a completely new dish.
“If you have, you know, a bunch of green beans and a bunch of vegetables, roasted vegetables, the next day make a stir fry.”
It is important to note that after your food is cooked it is only good for a short time.
“About three days, three to four days at the max. Again if it is properly taken care of, meaning that you put it in a Tupperware container or a plastic container, it is in a cold refrigerator, it didn’t sit out for a long period of time after you prepared it.”
You can keep track of what needs to be used when, by labeling the container before you put it in the fridge.
“Labeling is very important so that especially if you have a large family, if you have a big freezer, you definitely want to date a label.”
It is important to obey the sell by and expiration dates. Try to use the ingredients that are nearing expiration sooner to avoid wasting them.
Produce is one of the food items that is wasted the most. If you see your vegetables are nearing the end you can make a stock and freeze it into cubes to use for soups later.
You can find a break down of how long food lasts in it’s different states by clicking here.