I grew up in a lower middle-class, single-parent household in the late 70's into the 80's. My mom would cook pretty simple meals every night and the leftovers that didn't get eaten that night would often reappear later in the week as our dinner. While she sometimes got creative and transformed them into new dishes, more often than not it was just a mish mash. I got used to it, and unless it was something I really disliked I ate it. Wasting food that wasn't spoiled, molded, burned, or tainted some way was a big no-no. That line of thinking has ingrained itself into my being. Which is why it is so frustrating to read about the amount of food waste we produce:
[. . .]a new study finds food waste per person has shot up 50 percent since 1974. Some 1,400 calories worth of food is discarded per person each day, which adds up to 150 trillion calories a year.
The study finds that about 40 percent of all the food produced in the United States is tossed out.
(h/t to
The Eyewitness Muse for providing me the link for this)
With that said, I want to share a personal experience that opened my eyes to just how wasteful an American family can be.
About 2 years ago my fiance and I moved in with a young couple; a divorced mother of 2 children and her boyfriend. We lived in a semi-converted garage separate from the main house that they were renting. Which meant we had to go into the house to use the kitchen and bathroom. We had been over to their house prior to moving in with them and were friends with them and knew the kids. They knew I loved to cook and the boyfriend in the couple also loved to cook. The mom usually worked late and hated to cook so typically the boyfriend would make dinner for the kids if he wasn't working and if he was working there was a teenage babysitter who would make something simple. Lots of boxed processed things, hot dogs with mac & cheese etc. The leftovers would get packed up in plastic containers and stacked in the fridge after dinner just like you'd expect. Then they would sit, untouched, for days. A week or so later mom would go shopping. When she got home with what seemed to me like a month's worth of groceries we would all help lug in bag after bag into the kitchen. Before putting away any groceries she would then go through the fridge, pulling out container after container of leftovers piling them all up in the sink. The groceries would then get put away. Then came the horror. Every single container, whether it was from 2 weeks ago or just last night would be opened and the contents dumped in the trash. (Don't even get me started on how they could've gone into a compost heap). I saw so much food thrown away. Perfectly good food. When I inquired to the boyfriend he just said, "she won't eat leftovers". And what was worse was that the kids picked this up from her as well and would not eat "leftovers". Once something had been prepared and eaten as a meal, it suddenly became "cacaa" (you know, child-speak for poop or sh$t). How could a single mother of 2 growing children waste so much food? And to make it even worse, I can't tell you how many nights when she was at work the boyfriend, babysitter, or sometimes even I would make dinner and the kids would just pick at it. Then as soon as she got home from work (usually shortly after their bedtime) they would wake up and complain they were hungry and "whoosh" off they would go to Burger King, KFC or McDonalds for chicken nuggets and fries.
Now, don't get me wrong, I totally understand picky eaters as I was one and I was TERRIBLE about it as a kid. I wouldn't eat anything with cooked onions. I wouldn't eat peas. I spent a whole summer where all I would eat pretty much was pork chops & broccoli (yeah, I know, I was a WEIRD kid). But my mom would never have treated me to McD's 3-4 tiimes a week. Maybe once! But that was it! If I didn't like what was made for dinner I got the typical "you know there are starving children in Africa" line or the threats of no dessert. Maybe it's just a difference in the generations but I learned to eat what was put in front of me and appreciate my mom's efforts to feed both of us on a tight budget.
Now as an adult I am pretty good about transforming leftovers into second and even third meals. I often buy ingredients that I know can be used in more than one dish. I am decreasing my meat consumption because I know it is better for my health and also better for the environment. But I do still enjoy a few meat dishes throughout the week. My fiance is a total meat & potatoes kind of guy so the fact that we do eat 3 or sometimes more meatless meals is, I think, a decent effort. But one thing we do really well that I know is important is we EAT LEFTOVERS. ALL. THE. TIME. I'll wrap up this rambling rant with this little tidbit from the article I previously quoted to kind of bring home how the waste affects the environment:
Addressing the oversupply of food in the United States "could help curb to the obesity epidemic as well as reduce food waste, which would have profound consequences for the environment and natural resources," the scientists write. "For example, food waste is now estimated to account for more than one quarter of the total freshwater consumption and more than 300 million barrels of oil per year representing about 4 percent of the total U.S. oil consumption."
It might seem like a small thing but I think it adds up. How about you fellow Kossacks? What are your clever tricks with leftovers? What other things do you do to cut down on waste? I know I'm preaching to the choir here so thanks for letting me vent;)