Carolyn Steele, Part Two: Food Waste

But here's the point that grabbed me the most in Carolyn Steele's talk (see previous post):  Americans throw away half our food.  Excuse me? Half our food? 


Some quick sleuthing turned up a 2004 study published by Timothy W. Jones, PhD at the University of Arizon at Tuscon entitled "Using Contemporary Archaeology and Applied Anthropology to Understand Food Loss in the American Food System".  The decade-long study examined how much food households are throwing away, how much businesses are throwing away, and precisely what.  

Turns out we're not eating our vegetables, we're throwing them away (27% of food waste).  Grains (20%) and fruit (16%) were also high on the trash list, with meat (11%) being lower but by far the most costly.  Total annual household food waste in America in 2004 was estimated at $43,052,480,000, or $589.76 for a family of 4. Hispanic and lower income households had lower food loss rates than non-Hispanic and higher income households. And Dr. Jones found unopened food packages that were not out of date comprised 14% of all household food waste.  


The economic, environmental and moral waste is shocking, to put it mildly.  Half our food? No, no, no. Sounds like one problem we CAN do something about.  


How can we reduce food waste in our households?



Here are some of my ideas:


1. Grow your own.  Even us city dwellers can.  Fresh cut herbs invariably spoil they all get used up, so  buy pots of rosemary, basil, and other fresh herbs and keep them going on windowsills as long as possible.  For roughly the price of a packet of herb stalks, have fresh herbs for a season or longer.


2. Purchase vegetables at a farm or farm market. They are fresh-picked, and will last far longer than store-bought, so you are likely to throw out considerably less.


3.  Use stalks, peels and trimmings in stock.  I keep a large covered glass bowl in my fridge, where I collect vegetable trimmings.  Once a week, I throw them in a pot, cover with water, bring to a boil for a few minutes, then turn off the heat and let the whole lot steep for an hour or so, before straining into a few glass containers.  Freezes well, if you don't use it up within the week (nice in rice, soups, etc).  Makes a fortifying drink, too- even my teenagers like it. 


4.  Compost what you don't use (including the leftover cooked veggies from the stock).


5.  Take leftovers to work for lunch.


6.  Be mindful about freezing excess food.  Double a favorite soup recipe so you use up all that celery, and freeze the extra.  And muffins, for instance, can go straight from the freezer into a lunchbox and be just the right temp by lunch time.


7.  Plan menus.  If you're buying cilantro, plan several things to make with it that week (Rebecca's Moroccan Mint Pesto comes to mind....).   


8.Quickly use what is fading.  Overripe bananas become banana muffins. Tired apples become cooked apples.  


And I'll end with that recipe, in case you don't know it-- it's soooo easy, and immensely popular.  Children and teenagers go wild.  


Wash and cut apples into small chunks (I would only peel if they are not organic), 3/4" to one inch.  Throw in a heavy pot with a little water or apple cider in the bottom.  Sprinkle with cinnamon, cover and cook on low until the apples soften and are slightly caramelized.  


There won't be any food waste :)


Do you have some more ideas about how to cut back on food waste?  







  

Fascinating Talks: Carolyn Steel- How Food Shapes Our Cities

How do you feed a city? It's one of the great questions of our time. Yet it's one that's rarely asked. We take it for granted that if we go into a shop or restaurant... there's going to be food there waiting for us, having magically come from somewhere. 


But when you think that every day for a city the size of London, enough food has to be produced, transported, bought and sold, cooked, eaten, disposed of, and that something similar has to happen every day for every city on earth, it's remarkable that cities get fed at all.

Thus begins Carolyn Steel's excellent TED talk, "How Food Shapes Our Cities".  Steele is a London-born architect who's chief interest is in exploring the inner lives of cities.  In her new book Hungry City and in this talk, she explores how cities were formed at approximately the same time as the agriculture that made them possible, and that they were shaped around the food being transported into them.  


How did Rome feed its million citizens?

Basically, Rome had access to the sea, which made it possible for it to import food from a very long way away... So Rome effectively waged war on places like Carthage and Egypt just to get its paws on their grain reserves. And, in fact, you could say that the expansion of the Empire was really sort of one long, drawn out militarized shopping spree...

London has it's Bread Street, where grain came in from the Thames in the 17th century, and Fish Street, where the daily catch was traded in the open air.  Boston has it's Milk Street, one of the earliest and oldest streets in the heart of the old town (Benjamin Franklin was born at No. 1 Milk Street).  Here in Washington, DC, farm markets are springing up and becoming the heart of neighborhoods all over the city.  Back to the future?  I like to think we are cultivating the best from the past.


Watch for part 2 on this fascinating talk.

Food As Medicine coming to Miami

Just in case you've missed our notices: Food As Medicine, the professional nutrition training program for which this blog is named, is coming up in a few weeks November 19 - 22 in Miami, Florida-- and there's still space available.

We have generous scholarships for healthcare professionals and educators working with underserved communities in Miami and around the country.  Nutrition is a powerful tool for community wellness.  Attend Food As Medicine to learn the skills you'll need to help change your community!

It is, in my opinion, the greatest nutrition training program on the planet-- but don't take my word for it.  Take a look at what our graduates have to say.

We hope you'll join us in Miami!