If you love your food, give it a hug® 1 Food Huggers Guide to Reduce Food Waste
Food waste is a growing issue globally but especially in the United States, where 40 million tons of food goes to waste every year. And most of this comes from the home. Sadly, food is the most common component of American landfills and also, because of the methane gas it emits, one of the most harmful to the environment. The good thing is that by adopting simple habits you can help tackle the problem. And you’ll be saving money, too. Together we can make a difference. Let’s get started! On average, American families throw away $1,600 dollars worth of food every year.
Tip 1 Food waste begins at the supermarket when you buy more food than you can use. The key is to shop smarter. Shop the Fridge First Plan your meals for the week and write down how much you need of everything (for example, two potatoes for dinner, two apples for Tuesday’s breakfast, three zucchinis for Friday’s dinner). Make an inventory of your fridge, pantry, and freezer before heading out to the supermarket. Take note of what you already have and what you need to buy. If you find yourself throwing out food at the end of the week, do a food audit. What foods are you throwing away? Why didn’t you use them? Did you overbuy or eat out a lot? How can you avoid repeating this next week? 1. 3. 2.
Don’t put milk, eggs or meats on the door shelves. That’s the warmest part of your fridge! Label your leftovers. It will help remind you of what you have and when you made it. Keep meats and fish in the coldest part of your fridge—that’s usually the bottom. Tip 2 Effective food storage is essential for keeping your groceries fresh. Here are a few tips to help you store your food properly. Better, Smarter Storage 1. 3. 2.
Here’s a great resource to learn more about effective food storage. Keep your bananas by themselves. As they mature, they’ll make other fruits and veggies ripen faster. Live by the FIFO rule—first in first out. This means your first choice of what to eat is the food that’s been in your fridge the longest. Have a “use it or lose it” area in your fridge. Anything that needs to be eaten soon should go there. Food that gets hidden behind other things gets forgotten and goes to waste. 4. 6. 5.
Tip 3 Don’t Judge Food by its Cover The way we pick our food in the supermarket creates a lot of waste. We have this belief that all fruits and vegetables must look picture-perfect for them to be good. Not so! An odd-looking veggie tastes just as fresh and good as a picture-perfect one. The obsession with ‘good-looking’ foods is driving supermarkets and  ores to refuse odd-looking or misshapen vegetables and fruit. Farmers can’t sell them so they end up as waste. So if you see a funny-looking veggie or fruit, give it a chance! 6
Tip 4 Save and Repurpose Veggie scraps are not trash. There is so much unused potential from all the veggie leftovers.
Compost your scraps! This is the ultimate way to have a zero-waste kitchen. Save all your scraps and make flavorful veggie stock with them. It’s OK to eat the scraps! Veggie scraps aren’t garbage. In fact, you can eat most of them. Even banana skins are edible! You can also eat the entire broccoli and cauliflower. The stems from parsley, cilantro, and other herbs can be chopped and added into salsas for a super fresh flavor. Carrot tops are great for pesto and beet tops are great on salads. Freeze your cheese rinds and cheese that’s too dry to eat. Use it to make delicious soups. 1. 4. 3. 2. Here are a few things you can do with your scraps instead of putting them in the trash bin:
Tip 5 Craft “Fridge” Meals At the end of the week or before going grocery shopping, craft a meal with everything that needs to be eaten. If your lettuce is wilting and your zucchini is starting to look tired, use them up! The best way to put all the food in your fridge to use is to craft a fridge meal. Anything from a smoothie to a stir-fry works. Get creative and craft  some unique meals using everything before it goes to waste. 9
Tip 6 This creates a lot of unnecessary waste. Portion Control for the Win At some point in our culture, giant portions of food became the norm. And this is seen everywhere… at family gatherings, restaurants, events, even at the movies. We’re accustomed to getting more than we want or need.
For family gatherings or events, measure how much food you’re cooking based on how many people are actually eating. If you’re cooking for five people, you don’t need to make two pounds of pasta or four cups of rice. Cook only what you need. When cooking at home, a super-easy way to reduce portion size is to use a smaller plate. There’s no need to have a banquet every time you have an event. Especially if you’re constantly throwing away most of the food (and money). When cooking or ordering food for large groups, try to go for easy-to-freeze foods in case there are leftovers. That way your meals are prepped and you’re not wasting food or money. Here’s a chart you can use to measure how much you need for each food you’re cooking.
Tip 7 Use Food Huggers At Food Huggers we’re inspired by fresh food. That’s why we design products that make reducing food waste easy, convenient, attractive and fun! Food Huggers are simple and easy-to-use additions to your kitchen. Plus, when you hug your food, you get all these benefits: Extend your food’s shelf life Avoid single-use plastics Help in the fight again food waste Save money Keep fruits and veggies fresh and tasty
If you love your food, give it a hug®