wastage: how do you amnage t?

I too get upset with the amount of food people waste. Unfortunately we cannot send any to starving people. Myself I was brought up in a strict household where wasting food was considered a sin. It has stuck with me all my life. Even as a single person I don't waste food. Well rarely. Last month I threw out 3 shrivelled radishes. I solved the celery dilemma. I buy the smallest bunch, chop of the green tops and put them in a baggy in the freezer to make soup stock at a later date. I put the rest of the stalks in a pitcher of water in the fridg. The celery is crisp for a long time. Before it gets old I use some in stir Fry's and salads. I am now on a limited income and cannot afford to waste anything but I love to eat well and fresh fruits and veggies. I buy what is on special and looks good and plan my meals around it. If a cup of carrots or broccoli is left over after a meal - in the freezer it goes for the next stock. Towards the end of each month I prepare all my meals with what is on hand and don't buy anything else until my fridg is pretty well empty. A couple of days ago I found one lonely apple that had been around for a while. I sliced it up sauteed it in butter and cinnamon, added some brown sugar and a few walnut halves, poured a little cream on it and had it for desert. My, was it good. I think we in Western countries are so fortunate to have so much and I think it is morally wrong to waste so much.

Aha...this is a discussion that is near & dear to my heart! Even more so, because I am also single. You all may be appalled at my frugality, but it works for me. 1. One half day a week, I take time to preserve my purchases of that morning! i.e., Celery was mentioned, as it comes in a bunch! I save a few stalks for making salad, and the rest is diced & frozen for soups/stews/etc. 2. All (cleaned/washed) vegetable skins,(carrot, beet, turnip, potato,etc., are placed in a cheesecloth bag & simmered for a soup/stew base. I then freeze this broth in icecube trays..and then bag the cubes, so I always have soup/stew stock on hand. Then the skins are put in the compost. 3. All bones are simmered for stock. 4. Lemons, oranges, grapefruit, I always grate the peel off of it before I use the fruit, and freeze the grated peel to add to my baking. 5. I dehydrate a lot of my food, including meat and you can make wonderful snacks with a dehydrater. Fruit leathers, jerkies, dryed soup mixes. I am getting long winded here, but there are so many ways not to be wasteful, and I don't know where you live, but here, overages, extras can be donated to our Food Bank.

I too get upset with the amount of food people waste. Unfortunately we cannot send any to starving people. Myself I was brought up in a strict household where wasting food was considered a sin. It has stuck with me all my life. Even as a single person I don't waste food. Well rarely. Last month I threw out 3 shrivelled radishes. I solved the celery dilemma. I buy the smallest bunch, chop of the green tops and put them in a baggy in the freezer to make soup stock at a later date. I put the rest of the stalks in a pitcher of water in the fridg. The celery is crisp for a long time. Before it gets old I use some in stir Fry's and salads. I am now on a limited income and cannot afford to waste anything but I love to eat well and fresh fruits and veggies. I buy what is on special and looks good and plan my meals around it. If a cup of carrots or broccoli is left over after a meal - in the freezer it goes for the next stock. Towards the end of each month I prepare all my meals with what is on hand and don't buy anything else until my fridg is pretty well empty. A couple of days ago I found one lonely apple that had been around for a while. I sliced it up sauteed it in butter and cinnamon, added some brown sugar and a few walnut halves, poured a little cream on it and had it for desert. My, was it good. I think we in Western countries are so fortunate to have so much and I think it is morally wrong to waste so much.

I too get upset with the amount of food people waste. Unfortunately we cannot send any to starving people. Myself I was brought up in a strict household where wasting food was considered a sin. It has stuck with me all my life. Even as a single person I don't waste food. Well rarely. Last month I threw out 3 shrivelled radishes. I solved the celery dilemma. I buy the smallest bunch, chop of the green tops and put them in a baggy in the freezer to make soup stock at a later date. I put the rest of the stalks in a pitcher of water in the fridg. The celery is crisp for a long time. Before it gets old I use some in stir Fry's and salads. I am now on a limited income and cannot afford to waste anything but I love to eat well and fresh fruits and veggies. I buy what is on special and looks good and plan my meals around it. If a cup of carrots or broccoli is left over after a meal - in the freezer it goes for the next stock. Towards the end of each month I prepare all my meals with what is on hand and don't buy anything else until my fridg is pretty well empty. A couple of days ago I found one lonely apple that had been around for a while. I sliced it up sauteed it in butter and cinnamon, added some brown sugar and a few walnut halves, poured a little cream on it and had it for desert. My, was it good. I think we in Western countries are so fortunate to have so much and I think it is morally wrong to waste so much.

Honestly, I throw away almost nothing. I really hate to waste anything so I'm always reheating/recreating leftovers. I also make sure to use everything in the fridge and pantry before it goes bad.

I agree that we are extremely wasteful. As a young single woman, when I first moved out onto my own, I could afford nothing more than Kraft dinner, Ramen Noodles and eggs for the longest time! Well - that was fine, since those things keep for a long time. Then I got older, started earning more money and could afford to buy things like FRESH PRODUCE!!!! (GASP!!!). Well - I soon realized that even though I could afford it, I was still single and couldn't eat it before it went bad. Even the smallest available package of celery would go to waste. Groccery stores don't cater to single people and therefore, serving sizes are too large and often to go to waste in my house. Seemed to be a huge waste of money and resources. So...dinner tonight was (yup, you guessed it.....) Ramen Noodles and an omelette. Gross? Yeah, definitely. But not wasteful!