Barbara Worley, FACS Agent, UGA Extension Forsyth County
According to the USDA-ERS, in one year, approximately 133 billion pounds (31%) of the 430 billion pounds of available food supply at the retail and consumer levels, with an estimated retail value of $162 billion, was wasted. On top of that is the value of inputs, such as land, water, labor, and energy that were used to grow and transport all that wasted food.
This amount of waste has wide-spread impacts on our society.
Consumers create food waste when they buy or cook more than needed, and then throw away extra food and leftovers. Also, improper storage, confusion over best-by, use-by, and expiration dates often leads to food spoilage (and food safety) issues, causing waste when these items must be discarded. Food waste can be reduced in your home with simple shopping, storage, and cooking practices.
Several years ago, I developed a program that taught people how to use “dual-purpose vegetables.” A dual-purpose vegetable is the vegetable version of “nose-to-tail” eating. They are vegetables (or herbs) that play two or more roles where the entirety of the plant is edible, providing a variety of culinary and dietary uses. The program outlined some common dual-purpose vegetables, and how the various parts of the plant can be enjoyed. For example, the leaves of sweet potatoes and beets, the roots of carrots, beets, turnips, and radishes, the seeds of coriander and fennel, and flowers such as chive blossoms, are all parts of plants that can be used for more than one purpose.
Dual-purpose vegetables are not only sustainable, they help reduce food waste. When you purchase a dual-purpose vegetable, you save money by buying fewer food items. A carrot with the greens attached serves two purposes. The greens can be used where one would use parsley. It is like nature’s very own BOGO!
Reducing food waste by using methods such as purchasing and cooking dual-purpose vegetables also has various positive environmental impacts. It conserves energy and resources, preventing pollution involved in the growing, manufacturing, transporting, and selling food (i.e. hauling food waste to the landfill). This in turn reduces methane emissions from landfills and lowers your carbon footprint.