Wasting away

I heard from many of you last week on last week’s blog about saving money on food in 2012, one of which was simply to eliminate waste by creatively using everything in the fridge. Thanks for the feedback. Here’s more on the topic of waste.

Most of us aren’t surprised to hear that we throw away too much food in the U.S., but I was awestruck by the type and volume after watching the Food Network’s “The Big Waste” Sunday night. The show used the network’s emblematic cooking competition format to reveal the jarring amount of edible foodstuffs discarded daily. Chefs Bobby Flay and Michael Symon and Chefs Anne Burrell and Alex Guarnaschelli were asked to ferret out rejected produce, dairy items, baking staples and more and turn these safe and usable elements into dinner for 100.

Why these foods were cast off was the show’s most disturbing revelation. Tomatoes, peaches and scads of other fruits and vegetables had been abandoned by farmers and produce stand operators daily because customers will reject bruises and blemishes. Imported shortbread was summarily dismissed because of a minor infringement of its sell-by date. A heel of imported prosciutto was thrown out because it contained less meat than its preceding cuts.

These items may have had their limitations, but only because our template for groceries has gotten so out of whack. How could it be that a farm has to compost nearly half its volume (as was the case with one tomato grower) simply because persnickety consumers won’t buy imperfect specimens? This is an unintended consequence of our increased interested in food—I’m guilty of fussiness—but it just doesn’t add up when hunger remains a real and growing issue.

I believe this could be the next big dialogue on food, and I’d like to hear from you. What are your strategies for cutting waste? Do you donate high volume food to charities like the Society of St. Vincent de Paul? And do you track local restaurants or vendors who successfully manage waste, like Associated Grocers, which donated much of its 2011 Fall Food Show items to the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank?

Maggie Heyn Richardson’s work has appeared in Eating Well, Taste of the South, WRKF and on the national public radio program, On Point. She writes about food and wine for 225, and is currently working on a book about Louisiana foodways. Follow her on Twitter, @mhrwriter, and email your comments to [email protected]