Did you know? An estimated 33% of produce* is either unharvested or left behind in fields each year, and that’s just the beginning of our national problem with food waste. In 2019 alone, 931 million tons of food* went to waste at the home, retail, and restaurant level. Food waste is responsible for as much as 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.*
We’re doing our part by rescuing goods that might otherwise go to waste and giving produce and packaged goods a good home. Here’s how you can do yours.
Follow FIFO
That stands for First In, First Out. Consume foods in the order they were purchased (first in), using the oldest items soonest (first out) and the newer foods later (last in, last out). Many restaurants use FIFO to track inventory, improve food safety, and reduce costs. Households have caught on, following FIFO to eliminate food waste and save money.
Get into pickling
If you struggle to eat up your veggies before their peak, you can save time, money, and food waste by pickling produce. Onions, cabbage, and even cherry tomatoes can be pickled and used for weeks longer than they’d otherwise last. Learn more.
Embrace the freezer
If pickling isn’t your jam, consider freezing everything else. Carrot tops, citrus, berries, onions, avocados, and even garlic can find a place in the freezer to be used at a later date. Learn more.
Reconsider food scraps
Chances are you could be getting even more out of the peels, stems, and leafy tops that most people discard. Think: pesto, homemade veggie stock, infused drinks, and even delicious snacks. In fact, by rescuing those bits and pieces from the compost bin, you could actually be saving serious cash too. Learn more.
Build the perfect pantry
Take stock of what you’ve got and move items that have the most recent expiration dates to the front of your pantry. Then, buy what you like with a mix of complementary pantry staples and fresh produce that pair well together so nothing goes to waste. Learn more.
Rethink leftovers with meal planning
Instead of struggling to eat the same dinner three days in a row, stretch your produce into more unique meals by cooking a base veggie simply once, then use it in different ways. Like roasted cauliflower: tacos one night, a salad the next, then slathered in buffalo sauce for the third. Follow all of our cook once, eat twice recipes.
Have any good at-home tips for eliminating even more food waste? Let us know in the comments below!
*Sources:
Comments (13)
I have been trying to cancel my order, for 2 weeks and I can’t find where to do that. PLEASE take me off your list.
I am no longer interested in getting this box. Let me know if any one is getting my messages I have sent several.
Martha Kramer
Hi, Martha. We are so sorry to hear this. This is not what we want our customers to experience and our customer success team wants to address this as soon as possible. Thank you for already reaching out to our support team. They confirmed that they received your request and responded to your latest request at 8:31 AM EST this morning.
If you haven’t already please check your spam, all mail, and important folders for this email. If you still are unable to locate the email please reply directly to the support ticket with an alternative email address in case our emails are being filtered by your email provider.
If you can’t consume it, compost it.
My new VitaMix Food Cycler is fantastic at turning my produce scraps, egg shells, and teabags into compost. I already use stems for pesto and soup yet I n less than 6 months I made 16pounds of compost, I can’t wait to plant my outdoor containers!
That’s so amazing, Sheryl! You are going to be a composting pro with your new recycling tool. Have fun with planting your outdoor containers ????????
Salad. bar/Ramen Bar/chickens
First, after getting our box, we do a big ole salad bar. It’s a great way to enjoy the full flavor of the standard and the unique. Added to the selection of lettuces and all of the diced up yummies are unique things from the pantry- olives, crunchy fried jalapeño, kidney beans, crackers…
Next, we do ramen bowls! First we boil up some veggie broth using scraps from the bag we keep in the freezer, a dash of fish oil, some soy sauce, maybe some bouillon. Then we drop in gluten free ramen we find at Costco. Spoon a square into your bowl with lots of steaming broth then the fun begins- in little bunches around the rim of your bowl you place goodies on top- leftover meats, veggies, something crunchy, the sky is the limit. I like some seriously spicy hot sauce!
Now, of course you will make some soup, we always love soup, but if you just can’t create anything else, our chickens eat what’s left- they’re like magic the way they make everything disappear! And, the best part, the nutrients that go into our chickens actually continue to feed our family in our eggs! It’s a great week with Misfits!!
Thank you for sharing, Sarah! These are great ideas to make sure you’re enjoying all of your Misfits. We can’t wait to make ramen bowls with our next box of goodies (extra hot sauce for us too) ????????
I have a question. Is there any way to order additional quantities of broccoli. I currently get the madness box, and 2 bushels of broccoli is not enough in my house, I always order asparagus, and brussels sprouts from the marketplace, but I would love to get extra broccoli, even though I have a weekly order its not enough.
Great question, Alasha! At the moment we don’t have a way for you to add more quantities of specific produce to your order but we are working on a feature that will make it possible! You should be sent an email about this in the near future. ????
I have recently purchased a freeze dryer. This is what I do with all leftovers/excess food. I have been freeze drying and making meals for when SHTF or when I don’t feel like cooking and also making baby food for several new babies on the way. Can’t wait for my garden to start producing and all will go in the freeze dryer that we don’t eat immediately. I also use scraps to make a veggie stock. Dry all those peels, grind them up into powder and there you go, just add water when you need veggie stock. Thank you for offering this service. most veggies out of the garden are not perfect but they are delicious no matter. Can’t wait.
So awesome! Thank you for sharing these awesome food-preserving tips, Mylene. The possibilities are going to be endless with your new freeze dryer ????????
Not only do we use every scrap of vegetable/fruit that we receive, either eaten or composted, but our garden benefits from the packaging! We receive boxes with an insulation made up of recycled something or other encapsulated in brown paper – it makes a wonderful weed suppressing mulch on our garden, just lay it out in one piece and move when needed. The rain water can pass through but not the sunlight!
A box with the liner intact makes a wonderfully warm place to proof bread, or to store fragile items until you need them again.
Thank you for sharing this great feedback and awesome tips, Susan! We love to know that our boxes and packaging are being repurposed for great uses ????