As the daughter of a farmer, I feel like my view on food and food waste has always been different than the average person! Because of how much time and energy it took to grow and harvest our crops, my dad literally never let us waste ANYTHING. Everything was used in some way. Banana peels were put in water to water our house plants and then put in the compost so we could use the compost for our outdoor plants. Old greens were put in the freezer and used for anything and everything. Old bread was used in French toast or casseroles 🤣 Thank you for this video! It’s great to always get more ideas on how to limit food waste to save our planet (and money!!!!!) ❤️
In Europe we have this too good to go App, where a lot of grocerie stores and bakeries and hotels are part of, where they sell the things that they have left at the end of the day or in hotels after the breakfast for the hotel guests, you can pick up the rests for a really good price and nothing is going to waste. That is definitely one of my favorites since it's a win/win situation for everyone who is involved.
i love all this advice!! here’s an addition to the before-you-shop / when-you-shop sections: we like to leave a side veggie or two “open” on our meal plan so that we can, like you mentioned, look for what’s seasonal and/or on sale. like if we’re planning to have a pasta but we want a side veggie but don’t want to limit ourselves before we see what’s available, we just write “seasonal veg!” on the list and find something that looks good! that way we can still have a little spontaneity while looking for something in season and still know that we’ll eat it before it goes bad :)
Making quick grab snacks for myself has been a game changer. I definitely do better at eating fruits and veggies as snacks when I've prepped them ahead of time. Otherwise it feels like an insurmountable hurdle - it's the thing I most want to eat but the chore I least want to do in that moment.
One thing my family does to avoid food waste is buying very small quantities more often. Maybe this isn’t feasible for everyone but if you live near stores, taking inventory of what you have and buying only what you need for today and tomorrow is very helpful to avoid throwing out stuff you didn’t get around to eating.
@@damnbro_idcya you have to be disciplined. I allow one impulse purchase only so that helps me curb my impulses while still getting the joy of discovery :)
As someone who has several severe chronic illnesses with the newest diagnosis being cfsme, I've found that the easiest way for me to do my shopping (lately that is) has been ordering for delivery from Walmart (yes, i know, not the greatest company _but_ I have to shop from where I can afford as I am limited financially). By not going to the store I'm doing several things. 1. I'm not spending impulsively. 2. I'm not getting sensory overload. 3. I'm not going to end up having to go through a cfsme crash which causes me to have a sore throat and need extreme amounts of sleep.
Get a fridge whiteboard. When you prep something, write it down as you put it in the fridge. When you use the last of it, erase it. Allows you (and everyone else in the house) to see what's there without letting it get lost at the back of the fridge and going bad. Also you don't have to stand with the fridge door open trying to decide what you want.
on the topic of mindset shift: also recognizing the importance of food for the sake of the food, not its parts. Like recognizing that food is such an important part of life and having food is such an amazing experience. other cultures value food and cooking and the community of it so much more and it shows in the way we view food too. I dont know as much about the us, but in germany, theres this prevalent mindset of 'if it gives me the calories, perfect' without considering what else its giving and what else it could be giving... anywho, i love food xD
YES! Ingredients up!! I try to freeze leftovers, especially bits of vegetables (which can be throw into most soups). I've recently learned that my organizing style is visual--if I don't see it, then it doesn't exist--and I now have multiple clear containers for storage in my fridge. (The produce drawers have cheese and canned beverages.) HUGE fan of canned food and frozen veggies, which definitely limit my food waste. I have a composter in my yard and use that, which helps with eht oops items. As a kid from a family of 5, I've had to re-learn how to shop as a a single adult!
I've found that creating a cycle menu and macro counting has helped me so much with reducing food wastes. Seeing ingredients as building blocks versus focusing on recipes has been very helpful.
We've really reduced waste when shopping by choosing 6 meals from a list of meals I know how to cook, seeing what we have and what we need, making the list of needs, and then writing the names of the meals on the grocery list so when I get home later I can write them on our meal board so I don't forget what I can cook throughout the week.
As someone who loves to cook, I love the challenge of pairing seemingly random ingredients together into a meal. But, I don’t always have the energy for this, so your tips still apply to me!
Same. Nothing nicer than a fully stocked fridge but if I see anything potentially going off I give myself a challenge to not buy anything (exception are onions, carrots and potatoes) until I have no more food. This way when I have like 2 things left, I usually raid the pantry and freezer and rid of things there too. I do the same for freezer/pantry like twice a year to make sure everything is in rotation and I don't have a bag of flour that expired in 2005.
As someone who doesn't like to cook, at all lol, I have been enjoying doing a "pantry audit" because it turns cooking unusual meals into more of a challenge/game than a chore!! :] Just think it's neat that there are enjoyable ways to live sustainably for everyone of all lifestyles. It doesn't have to be a life of depravity, you know??
i'd love to see some videos either on here or on your webpage where you show what you are cooking with food that's going bad like the popsicles. whenever it happens just shoot a video and give us the recipe and release when you have time, but it would be super helpful to have ideas of what we can do when things are starting to rot. And if you could explain how it feels or smells so we have a frame of reference that would really help
Oh dang, I thought you were going to say the opposite about being overwhelmed, lol. I'm also neurodivergent and if the grocery store is too overstimulating, I go in, I check off every box on my list and I leave as soon as I can. Impulse purchases? Don't happen.Things I wanted but didn't make it on the list? Not happening. We'll get 'em next time. Gotta beat this survival mission of a grocery shop.
@@shehartedit I like that idea. Because it also makes impulse buying less likely since you're not in the store seeing stuff. I'm a little scared I'd buy more than I can carry on the mile walk home, but maybe it's worth a try.
I agree that a busy environment can motivate you to get in and out, but that's also when I skip things because somebody is standing in front of the potatoes and I am not going to encroach on that space.
Thank you so much for this video! Food waste is a huge problem in our household and no matter what we do something always gets thrown away. These little tips are simple yet effective. I especially love the website you shared, my biggest problem is not knowing everything we have to make something, that's going to be a lifesaver :)
Omg YES on “prepping ingredients, not meals”. I also have a spicy brain and CAN NOT meal prep. I need something different every day, I can do leftovers once and am really good with not wasting food but so glad you mentioned this.
Keeping my meals simple has helped so much! I got so excited about trying new recipes and it brought a lot of food waste and burn out on my end. Also, im so happy to hear about Kroger because that’s where I shop. It’s really the best grocery store in town.
Some of my favorite recipes have been from "shopping" or using up what I have first in recipes. I had some peanut butter that was going to expire and found these amazing Peanut Butter squares recipe that are now a staple in my household.
Brookshires also has discount fruit and vegetable sections! They are normally a tiered fruit stand. Also bagged like Kroger is and priced per bag. Brooksires may just be a Texas store if I remember correctly though?
I think also learning how to store foods so they don't go bad quickly. I learned adding wax paper helps strawberries and berries last longer. Also sometimes if I find I'm not going to finish my veggies I've started getting freezer safe containers and using my stasher bags to help with storing my foods for long-term
Thank you for sharing! Love all the advice! I don’t find a link to the website where you put in the ingredients and find the recipes. I have found different ones online but some are not that great.. I had my dinner today watching this video. I ate A LOT of baby spinach. “Last consumption day” was yesterday, but not slimy or gross. I have used of it for several days in a row and was aware of the date, but since it look beautiful I spread it over several more days. Now it was time to get it eaten. I have been so hard on “last consumption day” before, but if the veggies look nice I now don’t care. I don’t eat meat, so it’s mostly veggies I eat with that kind of date on it. Use your senses 😊 I love the reduced place in the stores. Most stores here in Norway has them, and you can get some really good deals 🤑 Love from a fellow ND from Norway 🇳🇴 ~Johanne
like i mostly stick to my processed, packagaded food bc i've never learned how to handle stuff like this which makes me scared cause i don't wanna waste any food. but i'll def try some of tthese tips!
I also look for substitutes, especially if I am cooking/baking something I don't do often. For example, I hate to bake cookies, but recently I made and froze a bunch of cookie dough. The recipe called for crisco, but I was able to substitute that with coconut oil I already had. And I often substitute yogurt for sour cream since I am the only person who eats sour cream in my house.
I love this video, I have a different view of food waste as I have both lived in the country and in the city. Standards for homes in the country and in the city are very different. I love seeing it in all honesty. This is so so informational though for even me who feels well versed in reduction of food waste.
So much food gets wasted throughout the holidays. One of my tips is to just encourage cooking what you want regardless of tradition. People get so hung up on holiday food, but it doesn’t do any good if it gets wasted.
Absolutely. If you want it to be seasonal, just buy stuff that's in season in general, and then prepare and serve according to tradition, such as roasting Thanksgiving foods and adding cinnamon to the desserts.
I have few food scraps left but I "compost" what I do. Grind them up, mix them with coffee grounds and scatter them on my yard and flower beds. (I don't have meat or fish scraps as the 3 cats help me with any of that! )
one thing i recommend: if you’re trying to make a new recipe, try making it with friends!! that way if it doesn’t turn out, the waste and financial cost will be less per person as distributed among many!
That's also another great tip but sometimes I just make the serving sizes smaller using the pick up lime app which is a plant based subscription service and made by another TH-cam creator (:
We recently got a large pack of Roma tomatoes for a birthday dinner because we wanted a salad. 7 of the people ended up sick and weren't able to come. While talking to my aunt she said she has a dehydrator. I gave her about 5 tomatoes because I absolutely knew we wouldn't eat it. Yay!
I love to hear what Kroger is doing - I wish we had that store in my area. Wondering if you have ever done a deep dive into food banks. I have volunteered at the one in my community numerous times and it is so disheartening the amount of food that goes right to the trash (yes trash - not compost 😞). All of this food is donated with the best of intentions and the employees/volunteers are doing what they can to get it to people in need, but SO MUCH still goes to waste. It started making me feel like donating produce was similar to donating clothing/items to Goodwill, where most goes to the trash anyways. I know that probably isn't the best outlook to have but it's just sad to see. I don't pretend to have all the answers, but there has got to be a better way
On the subject of keeping food fresh longer, I want to shout out Amy Cross from the channel The Cross Legacy, where she details how to wash and store fresh produce to dramatically extend their life in your kitchen. If your lifestyle affords you the time to prep food using her methods, you can really improve your food waste footprint. She has a couple of e-books detailing instructions for smany specific foods, but she has a ton of videos on a lot of the most commonly purchased and wasted produce.
I love Kroger's 99 cents red mesh bags of produce! When they put out new stock, they bag up fruit and veggies that are still good and have a sale bin for it. 😊
I know this isn't the focus of the video but think it's worth mentioning the most impactful thing you can do when it comes to sustainability around food is eat more plant-based and limit animal products in your diet. If you aren't plant-based you can try starting with a couple veggie meals a week and go from there!
P.S. Stashers makes lovely reusable lock-top silicone bags and I love them. Also, DO NOT microwave plastic containers! It's beyond questionable--the newest researc on microplastics makes this a GIANT "don't." (Using clear containers designed for produce makes it easy to use up fresh produce before it wilts.)
If you have to go on busy times to the store: noise cancelling headphones! Helps me not to get overwhelmed (also use them in museums, etc, to not get drained)
do american grocery stores not have reduced sections? they're standard in the UK. you can find "stir fry" or "stew mix" of prepackaged veg at a reduced price both day before and day of best before.
Not sure if you have before but you should make a video about what to do with food waste other than composting. Example - using pumpkins for deer/farm feed when done with them for decor
A game changer for this fellow spicy grain gal was putting all my sauces and condiments that have along shelf-life (ketchup, mustard, salad dressings, etc) in the drawers (where my produce used to go to die) and putting my fresh produce at eye level and on the door so I have to look at them every time I look at the fridge.
Each one of our stores use brown paper bags with different varieties of unperfect fruits and vegetables the bag can be overflowing but it's sold for a 1.00 which is amazing
I just used a pasta sauce that was outdated by over a year. Seal still good, sniff tested fine and took a taste. No difference in taste. Though i will say I'm not a fan of the silicone bags. they are too thick and they smoosh my food more than protect them. I've gotten into the habit of just reusing plastic ziplock bags and when I buy them, I buy the freezer ones since they are thicker and will last longer in useage.
Learning to recognize signs of actual food spoilage rather than relying on largely arbitrary dates would go a loooong way to reduce tons of food waste, imo
Absolutely i go very late sometimes at night and in general errands morning early or very late find them been less anoying that way Also sometimes thers a short date shlef or small section! Very very budgeti and ecoi
Woww, I had no idea about there being websites where you can input the ingredients you have at home and get a generated recipe to avoid food waste or having to buy food just for one recipe. Great tips and you’re always a great resource!
Bought some perfectly delicious red pears and some dusty-looking sweet potatoes in the Kroger reduced price section. I just wish it were more conspicuously-placed. Right now, it's practically hidden behind a shelf. No bulk bins, either. I should ask a manager about that.
I love prepping ingredients too I don't have a sensory issue but I don't want to eat the same food I hate that so if I have ingredients I make different variations of the same foods and making recipes out of what I have in the fridge is like a game I enjoy that a lot
One thing I do for variety in the grocery store is that I put down a vague option for what I want. Like for example, for fruit I’ll put down “sale fruit” or “stone fruit” or “something new” instead of a specific fruit. In my head I’m like “I WONDER WHAT ILL FIND TODAY” and it’s a lot more exciting.
the only expiration date that i really listen to is for milk. you can taste it going bad. it usually starts to go bad before the date especially lactaid milk. the expiration is usually 2 months out but it starts to go bad like 2 weeks after its open. the container does technically say itll go bad 2 weeks after opening but its very misleading to see the date on the container is months away and its already bad.
In my country is really popular to make some space in fridges and veggies stands for things close to expire date or ugly or something. I'm always shopping there specially for veggies and fruits, once I bought like 1.5 kilos of beetroot for literally the price of one Snickers bar. I made great soup for me and my husband for to 2 days and this whole soup cost me like a single dollar
Stop and shop (the one I worked at) didn't put out ugly foods for the public but it went in a giant compost bin for the farmers truck that would pick it up
About being overstimulated at the grocery store, I found it helpful to wear musician’s ear plugs for reducing the noise and sunglasses for the bright lights.
Kroger is a horrible company! They treat their employees like garbage. I won’t even shop there after quitting recently. I’ll spend more money going to sprouts and the farmers market when it’s available. Love your videos tho I’ve been watching for years ❤
for SO LONG i was a produce killer I would buy produce with the intent to try some new recipe, and it would just rot and die in there Learning how to cook by prioritizing scraps has been incredible in reducing food waste A stir-fry is the absolute easiest way to do this. I just chop up whatever is left of any veg and throw em in the pan with some sauce, and then voila. So yummy, so easy, and now every single veg scrap has been used up and eaten
I love ur videos! Coming from a fam the rcy is not really a priority and also moving to a state that I know noone and also coming out your vidoes have been there I know weird I'm sorry just trying to say thank you!
honestly i can't food shop when im not hungry because then i just won't buy anything as all food looks unappealing to me (i have arfid though so idk if this is just due to that)
Hot tip I learned from Epic Gardening today, apparently you can store carrots in sand for months and months and they will be super crispy when you take them out again
No disrespect to anyone, especially people with different neurodivergence than mine, but I just find it funny how so many people have problems like this. I'm out here trying to educate myself on living sustainably only to learn people have issues I didn't even think existed. Like, yea, I do find the odd vegetable that shriveled beyond recognition when I visit my parents, but it genuinely has me godsmacked how something this surreal is a real issue worth paying attention to. I thought the problem with people throwing food away was like, burning the dinner and making a new one or buying a pack of something they realized they don't like and throwing it all away. Again, not to sound disrespectful or judgmental, but it's actually tragicomedic to me how people just... buy so much food that they have trouble accounting for it and it just goes bad.
Curious where you live. It's really common in a lot of the US to grocery shop like 1x per week max. Growing up, my dad had 2 full size refrigerators. He was often guilty of being overly optimistic about what would get eaten and how long it would take
@@supernova622 I live in Europe, I'm pretty sure people here also do these things but it never even crossed my mind it could be an actual problem. It's not like I've never thrown away bad food but needing to change one's habits to avoid it because it happens so much blows my mind. I can understand working hours upon hours every week and only having time to do the shopping for the weekend but surely someone old enough to work knows how much food they're going to need for 7 days.
@@toxihex876 Another thing that can contribute to food spoilage is the size of packaging in North America, I'm thinking about bags of spinach or fresh-cut broccoli or grapes. . . Like grapes at my grocery store come in pre-measured bags or clamshells of about 1kg. That's way too much for me to eat in a week as single person, so my options if I want to avoid food spoilage are either don't buy grapes, or find a way to freeze or give away what I won't eat. If grocery stores in my area had bulk grapes, that would solve my problem. But they don't.
@@nataliawineland34Same! While watching meal-prep videos I'm always bamboozled how it works. Is it not going bad for a week, really? Food from few days ago makes my sort of a spicy brain go "nope, not gonna happen".
I haven't watched the video yet, but can we please talk about how wasteful plastic milk jugs are? WAIT! I see you there, lurking in the comments. LOL Before you say about how horrible dairy is for your health and the planet and yadda yadda, I don't want to hear it. We all have our "thing" and dairy is just something our family isn't willing to give up. So commenting anything negative will be counter-productive. So... Please and thank you! That being said, considering our family DOES want to drink & eat dairy... why in the world isn't there a more sustainable option? I know some places like Canada have bagged milk. And yeah, it's still waste, but I feel like it's a lot better option than the big plastic jugs that take up so much room in a trash bag. I live in a very rural area. If I want to recycle, I literally have to DRIVE an hour (one way). We don't have recycling pickup at all, not for plastic, paper... nothing. So I'll be honest, we just don't recycle. We have a tiny car, tiny home, somewhat small piece of land... limited space to keep things... it's very unlikely we'll start recycling anytime soon. So we try to make changes in other ways, like reusable bottles, shopping less, growing food, second hand shopping, etc. I want to be able to refill a glass container of milk, dang it! There is a store here that sells glass containers that you can... again... recycle... but it's nearly twice the price. And it's not really refillable. You still have to buy a new container each time and figure out what to do with the old one. But this time, it's heavy and breakable and f'n expensive. I really wish bagged milk was a thing around here. Like I said, I know plastic bags suck, but it takes so much less space in the trash. How can I make this a thing? Oh... and I considered powdered milk instead, but if anyone has looked at the price, you'd see why I said no. We're really poor... like living paycheck to paycheck, only one person working, living off charity & EBT, house falling in but can't fix it level of poor. Powdered milk would be one step away from a luxury... IDK maybe I should figure out a way to invest in a dairy cow. LOL
I was at meijer the other month and they had fruit cups that literally needed eaten like same day for .50 off. Sorry but if I’m buying something so close to just being thrown away like at that point cut your losses and just sell it at cost so it doesn’t get wasted.
Hey Shel, really appreciate your content. I just want to understand why you aren't using your platform to talk about the gen*cide taking place in Palestine? The brands to boycott and the reason to do so? Surely there can't be anything more unsustainable to the environment than bombing 15,000 tonnes of explosives in Gaza (MORE THAN WHAT WAS DROPPED IN HIROSHIMA) and killing more than 9000+ people, 3800 of which are children? I sincerely can't imagine anything more unsustainable and MALICIOUS to the environment than supporting the brands that support Isreal? Your tax money is supporting a g*nocide, is this not a colossal environmental concern?
As the daughter of a farmer, I feel like my view on food and food waste has always been different than the average person! Because of how much time and energy it took to grow and harvest our crops, my dad literally never let us waste ANYTHING. Everything was used in some way. Banana peels were put in water to water our house plants and then put in the compost so we could use the compost for our outdoor plants. Old greens were put in the freezer and used for anything and everything. Old bread was used in French toast or casseroles 🤣 Thank you for this video! It’s great to always get more ideas on how to limit food waste to save our planet (and money!!!!!) ❤️
Love this! What does adding the banana peels to plant water do? I am so curious! haha
In Europe we have this too good to go App, where a lot of grocerie stores and bakeries and hotels are part of, where they sell the things that they have left at the end of the day or in hotels after the breakfast for the hotel guests, you can pick up the rests for a really good price and nothing is going to waste. That is definitely one of my favorites since it's a win/win situation for everyone who is involved.
i love all this advice!! here’s an addition to the before-you-shop / when-you-shop sections: we like to leave a side veggie or two “open” on our meal plan so that we can, like you mentioned, look for what’s seasonal and/or on sale. like if we’re planning to have a pasta but we want a side veggie but don’t want to limit ourselves before we see what’s available, we just write “seasonal veg!” on the list and find something that looks good! that way we can still have a little spontaneity while looking for something in season and still know that we’ll eat it before it goes bad :)
Love this idea, thanks for sharing!
Only 35 or 40 years ago, everyone did that. Advertising has worked hard to make us forget these customs fast. We have to work harder to remember.
Making quick grab snacks for myself has been a game changer. I definitely do better at eating fruits and veggies as snacks when I've prepped them ahead of time. Otherwise it feels like an insurmountable hurdle - it's the thing I most want to eat but the chore I least want to do in that moment.
One thing my family does to avoid food waste is buying very small quantities more often. Maybe this isn’t feasible for everyone but if you live near stores, taking inventory of what you have and buying only what you need for today and tomorrow is very helpful to avoid throwing out stuff you didn’t get around to eating.
Or it can backfire for some (especially since Halloween/candy season is approaching) because of impulse buying unnecessary items
@@damnbro_idcya you have to be disciplined. I allow one impulse purchase only so that helps me curb my impulses while still getting the joy of discovery :)
As someone who has several severe chronic illnesses with the newest diagnosis being cfsme, I've found that the easiest way for me to do my shopping (lately that is) has been ordering for delivery from Walmart (yes, i know, not the greatest company _but_ I have to shop from where I can afford as I am limited financially). By not going to the store I'm doing several things. 1. I'm not spending impulsively. 2. I'm not getting sensory overload. 3. I'm not going to end up having to go through a cfsme crash which causes me to have a sore throat and need extreme amounts of sleep.
Get a fridge whiteboard. When you prep something, write it down as you put it in the fridge. When you use the last of it, erase it. Allows you (and everyone else in the house) to see what's there without letting it get lost at the back of the fridge and going bad. Also you don't have to stand with the fridge door open trying to decide what you want.
on the topic of mindset shift: also recognizing the importance of food for the sake of the food, not its parts. Like recognizing that food is such an important part of life and having food is such an amazing experience. other cultures value food and cooking and the community of it so much more and it shows in the way we view food too. I dont know as much about the us, but in germany, theres this prevalent mindset of 'if it gives me the calories, perfect' without considering what else its giving and what else it could be giving...
anywho, i love food xD
Omg what is that website that tells you recipes based off food you already have!?!? I looked for it in the description I might be missing it
There are a few apps like KitchenPal that have recipes for what you already have.
Supercook is one!
Going off what I see in the video, I'm going to say she was using the website Supercook
Found it, its called Supercook
My favorite is Pick Up Limes website. They also have a great cooking YT channel and an app. (all plant-based)
My-tried-and-testing method to have less produce food waste is having bunnies 🐰 for the past decade 😅 haven’t had salad or veggies go bad like EVER
Guinea pigs work for that too!! 😂 💖
YES! Ingredients up!! I try to freeze leftovers, especially bits of vegetables (which can be throw into most soups). I've recently learned that my organizing style is visual--if I don't see it, then it doesn't exist--and I now have multiple clear containers for storage in my fridge. (The produce drawers have cheese and canned beverages.) HUGE fan of canned food and frozen veggies, which definitely limit my food waste. I have a composter in my yard and use that, which helps with eht oops items. As a kid from a family of 5, I've had to re-learn how to shop as a a single adult!
I've found that creating a cycle menu and macro counting has helped me so much with reducing food wastes. Seeing ingredients as building blocks versus focusing on recipes has been very helpful.
YES!! I always put leftovers on the top shelf of my fridge. It's the first place I look and has helped reduce food waste by a lot
We've really reduced waste when shopping by choosing 6 meals from a list of meals I know how to cook, seeing what we have and what we need, making the list of needs, and then writing the names of the meals on the grocery list so when I get home later I can write them on our meal board so I don't forget what I can cook throughout the week.
As someone who loves to cook, I love the challenge of pairing seemingly random ingredients together into a meal. But, I don’t always have the energy for this, so your tips still apply to me!
Same. Nothing nicer than a fully stocked fridge but if I see anything potentially going off I give myself a challenge to not buy anything (exception are onions, carrots and potatoes) until I have no more food. This way when I have like 2 things left, I usually raid the pantry and freezer and rid of things there too. I do the same for freezer/pantry like twice a year to make sure everything is in rotation and I don't have a bag of flour that expired in 2005.
As someone who doesn't like to cook, at all lol, I have been enjoying doing a "pantry audit" because it turns cooking unusual meals into more of a challenge/game than a chore!! :] Just think it's neat that there are enjoyable ways to live sustainably for everyone of all lifestyles. It doesn't have to be a life of depravity, you know??
i'd love to see some videos either on here or on your webpage where you show what you are cooking with food that's going bad like the popsicles. whenever it happens just shoot a video and give us the recipe and release when you have time, but it would be super helpful to have ideas of what we can do when things are starting to rot. And if you could explain how it feels or smells so we have a frame of reference that would really help
Oh dang, I thought you were going to say the opposite about being overwhelmed, lol. I'm also neurodivergent and if the grocery store is too overstimulating, I go in, I check off every box on my list and I leave as soon as I can. Impulse purchases? Don't happen.Things I wanted but didn't make it on the list? Not happening. We'll get 'em next time. Gotta beat this survival mission of a grocery shop.
Have you tried ordering online for pickup?
@@shehartedit I like that idea. Because it also makes impulse buying less likely since you're not in the store seeing stuff. I'm a little scared I'd buy more than I can carry on the mile walk home, but maybe it's worth a try.
I agree that a busy environment can motivate you to get in and out, but that's also when I skip things because somebody is standing in front of the potatoes and I am not going to encroach on that space.
Thank you so much for this video! Food waste is a huge problem in our household and no matter what we do something always gets thrown away. These little tips are simple yet effective. I especially love the website you shared, my biggest problem is not knowing everything we have to make something, that's going to be a lifesaver :)
Omg YES on “prepping ingredients, not meals”. I also have a spicy brain and CAN NOT meal prep. I need something different every day, I can do leftovers once and am really good with not wasting food but so glad you mentioned this.
Keeping my meals simple has helped so much! I got so excited about trying new recipes and it brought a lot of food waste and burn out on my end.
Also, im so happy to hear about Kroger because that’s where I shop. It’s really the best grocery store in town.
Some of my favorite recipes have been from "shopping" or using up what I have first in recipes. I had some peanut butter that was going to expire and found these amazing Peanut Butter squares recipe that are now a staple in my household.
Brookshires also has discount fruit and vegetable sections! They are normally a tiered fruit stand. Also bagged like Kroger is and priced per bag. Brooksires may just be a Texas store if I remember correctly though?
I think also learning how to store foods so they don't go bad quickly. I learned adding wax paper helps strawberries and berries last longer. Also sometimes if I find I'm not going to finish my veggies I've started getting freezer safe containers and using my stasher bags to help with storing my foods for long-term
1/10 vinegar to water ratio and rinse your berries and they last so long! Also those produce containers def help also!
i always store my veggies uncut in a large plastic container, instead of the crisper and they seem to last a lot longer
Thank you for sharing! Love all the advice! I don’t find a link to the website where you put in the ingredients and find the recipes. I have found different ones online but some are not that great..
I had my dinner today watching this video. I ate A LOT of baby spinach. “Last consumption day” was yesterday, but not slimy or gross. I have used of it for several days in a row and was aware of the date, but since it look beautiful I spread it over several more days. Now it was time to get it eaten. I have been so hard on “last consumption day” before, but if the veggies look nice I now don’t care. I don’t eat meat, so it’s mostly veggies I eat with that kind of date on it. Use your senses 😊
I love the reduced place in the stores. Most stores here in Norway has them, and you can get some really good deals 🤑
Love from a fellow ND from Norway 🇳🇴
~Johanne
thank you!!!! as a neurospicy person this is really helpful
like i mostly stick to my processed, packagaded food bc i've never learned how to handle stuff like this which makes me scared cause i don't wanna waste any food. but i'll def try some of tthese tips!
I also look for substitutes, especially if I am cooking/baking something I don't do often. For example, I hate to bake cookies, but recently I made and froze a bunch of cookie dough. The recipe called for crisco, but I was able to substitute that with coconut oil I already had. And I often substitute yogurt for sour cream since I am the only person who eats sour cream in my house.
I love this video, I have a different view of food waste as I have both lived in the country and in the city. Standards for homes in the country and in the city are very different. I love seeing it in all honesty. This is so so informational though for even me who feels well versed in reduction of food waste.
Thanks, Shelby! I appreciate all the tips you gave, will definitely try them out!
So much food gets wasted throughout the holidays. One of my tips is to just encourage cooking what you want regardless of tradition. People get so hung up on holiday food, but it doesn’t do any good if it gets wasted.
Absolutely. If you want it to be seasonal, just buy stuff that's in season in general, and then prepare and serve according to tradition, such as roasting Thanksgiving foods and adding cinnamon to the desserts.
If you’re in New England, Market Basket has a really good discount produce section, and a ‘scratch and dent’ section.
I have few food scraps left but I "compost" what I do. Grind them up, mix them with coffee grounds and scatter them on my yard and flower beds. (I don't have meat or fish scraps as the 3 cats help me with any of that! )
one thing i recommend: if you’re trying to make a new recipe, try making it with friends!! that way if it doesn’t turn out, the waste and financial cost will be less per person as distributed among many!
That's also another great tip but sometimes I just make the serving sizes smaller using the pick up lime app which is a plant based subscription service and made by another TH-cam creator (:
We recently got a large pack of Roma tomatoes for a birthday dinner because we wanted a salad. 7 of the people ended up sick and weren't able to come. While talking to my aunt she said she has a dehydrator. I gave her about 5 tomatoes because I absolutely knew we wouldn't eat it. Yay!
I love to hear what Kroger is doing - I wish we had that store in my area. Wondering if you have ever done a deep dive into food banks. I have volunteered at the one in my community numerous times and it is so disheartening the amount of food that goes right to the trash (yes trash - not compost 😞). All of this food is donated with the best of intentions and the employees/volunteers are doing what they can to get it to people in need, but SO MUCH still goes to waste. It started making me feel like donating produce was similar to donating clothing/items to Goodwill, where most goes to the trash anyways. I know that probably isn't the best outlook to have but it's just sad to see. I don't pretend to have all the answers, but there has got to be a better way
We didn't usually have food go bad, but sometimes the stores would send us stuff that was CLEARLY no longer fit for consumption.
@supernova622 yes, I saw that too. Which was just annoying that it basically felt like they're making it the organizations problem to dispose of
On the subject of keeping food fresh longer, I want to shout out Amy Cross from the channel The Cross Legacy, where she details how to wash and store fresh produce to dramatically extend their life in your kitchen. If your lifestyle affords you the time to prep food using her methods, you can really improve your food waste footprint. She has a couple of e-books detailing instructions for smany specific foods, but she has a ton of videos on a lot of the most commonly purchased and wasted produce.
I love Kroger's 99 cents red mesh bags of produce! When they put out new stock, they bag up fruit and veggies that are still good and have a sale bin for it. 😊
I know this isn't the focus of the video but think it's worth mentioning the most impactful thing you can do when it comes to sustainability around food is eat more plant-based and limit animal products in your diet. If you aren't plant-based you can try starting with a couple veggie meals a week and go from there!
P.S. Stashers makes lovely reusable lock-top silicone bags and I love them. Also, DO NOT microwave plastic containers! It's beyond questionable--the newest researc on microplastics makes this a GIANT "don't." (Using clear containers designed for produce makes it easy to use up fresh produce before it wilts.)
Thank you Shelby! Love your channel and realistic approach so much.
I buy all my produce at the Farmers Market. I prefer that over the grocery store any day.
If you have to go on busy times to the store: noise cancelling headphones! Helps me not to get overwhelmed (also use them in museums, etc, to not get drained)
do american grocery stores not have reduced sections? they're standard in the UK. you can find "stir fry" or "stew mix" of prepackaged veg at a reduced price both day before and day of best before.
Not sure if you have before but you should make a video about what to do with food waste other than composting. Example - using pumpkins for deer/farm feed when done with them for decor
A game changer for this fellow spicy grain gal was putting all my sauces and condiments that have along shelf-life (ketchup, mustard, salad dressings, etc) in the drawers (where my produce used to go to die) and putting my fresh produce at eye level and on the door so I have to look at them every time I look at the fridge.
Each one of our stores use brown paper bags with different varieties of unperfect fruits and vegetables the bag can be overflowing but it's sold for a 1.00 which is amazing
I just used a pasta sauce that was outdated by over a year. Seal still good, sniff tested fine and took a taste. No difference in taste. Though i will say I'm not a fan of the silicone bags. they are too thick and they smoosh my food more than protect them. I've gotten into the habit of just reusing plastic ziplock bags and when I buy them, I buy the freezer ones since they are thicker and will last longer in useage.
Learning to recognize signs of actual food spoilage rather than relying on largely arbitrary dates would go a loooong way to reduce tons of food waste, imo
Absolutely i go very late sometimes at night and in general errands morning early or very late find them been less anoying that way
Also sometimes thers a short date shlef or small section! Very very budgeti and ecoi
You’re so young to be making such an impact and finding a wealth of knowledge and info to share on such a well done channel. 🎉❤
Woww, I had no idea about there being websites where you can input the ingredients you have at home and get a generated recipe to avoid food waste or having to buy food just for one recipe. Great tips and you’re always a great resource!
Bought some perfectly delicious red pears and some dusty-looking sweet potatoes in the Kroger reduced price section. I just wish it were more conspicuously-placed. Right now, it's practically hidden behind a shelf. No bulk bins, either. I should ask a manager about that.
I love prepping ingredients too I don't have a sensory issue but I don't want to eat the same food I hate that so if I have ingredients I make different variations of the same foods and making recipes out of what I have in the fridge is like a game I enjoy that a lot
One thing I do for variety in the grocery store is that I put down a vague option for what I want. Like for example, for fruit I’ll put down “sale fruit” or “stone fruit” or “something new” instead of a specific fruit. In my head I’m like “I WONDER WHAT ILL FIND TODAY” and it’s a lot more exciting.
The Cross Legacy has great instruction on how to store fruits and veggies to make them last for several weeks.
I missed this sort of content!
the only expiration date that i really listen to is for milk. you can taste it going bad. it usually starts to go bad before the date especially lactaid milk. the expiration is usually 2 months out but it starts to go bad like 2 weeks after its open. the container does technically say itll go bad 2 weeks after opening but its very misleading to see the date on the container is months away and its already bad.
In my country is really popular to make some space in fridges and veggies stands for things close to expire date or ugly or something. I'm always shopping there specially for veggies and fruits, once I bought like 1.5 kilos of beetroot for literally the price of one Snickers bar. I made great soup for me and my husband for to 2 days and this whole soup cost me like a single dollar
The statistics about canned food you talk about, where can i find them?
Stop and shop (the one I worked at) didn't put out ugly foods for the public but it went in a giant compost bin for the farmers truck that would pick it up
I’d love to hear about plastic packaging because I heard you mentioned it in your last video and it gives me so much anxiety!!!
The crisper is where fruits and veggies go to die. We keep our drinks and sauces in the crisper drawer now. If i need them, I will go looking for them
I love your back ground.🪴
I'm interested to know if you feed your chicken table scraps. Wouldn't this also be a great way to reduce food waste?
About being overstimulated at the grocery store, I found it helpful to wear musician’s ear plugs for reducing the noise and sunglasses for the bright lights.
I can't find the link to the website that will show you what to make with what you already have. Did I miss it?
What’s the site to help use what’s in the pantry
I miss my Kroger so much 😢 I moved cities and mine doesn’t have one anymore. I love that discount food section 😂
Whenever I go to the store not hungry, I just buy nothing loll it's like I cant imagine being hungry later. Spicy brain is correct
What is the website that you insert what u have and they create recipes?? Can’t find it in your bio
"this might be a spicy brain thing" sent me lol
The “freeze it” tip hit home for me!!! Freeze that banana or strawberries! Idk why I never thought about that… smh
Kroger is a horrible company! They treat their employees like garbage. I won’t even shop there after quitting recently. I’ll spend more money going to sprouts and the farmers market when it’s available. Love your videos tho I’ve been watching for years ❤
for SO LONG i was a produce killer
I would buy produce with the intent to try some new recipe, and it would just rot and die in there
Learning how to cook by prioritizing scraps has been incredible in reducing food waste
A stir-fry is the absolute easiest way to do this. I just chop up whatever is left of any veg and throw em in the pan with some sauce, and then voila.
So yummy, so easy, and now every single veg scrap has been used up and eaten
I love love Kroger
I love ur videos! Coming from a fam the rcy is not really a priority and also moving to a state that I know noone and also coming out your vidoes have been there I know weird I'm sorry just trying to say thank you!
Smith's has their rack! Cause there isn't a kroger anywhere around us
What website did you use for the recipes?? I don’t see it in the description
its called super cook
honestly i can't food shop when im not hungry because then i just won't buy anything as all food looks unappealing to me (i have arfid though so idk if this is just due to that)
Hot tip I learned from Epic Gardening today, apparently you can store carrots in sand for months and months and they will be super crispy when you take them out again
If everyone followed neurodiverse tips regardless of neurotype, the world would be a better place.
No disrespect to anyone, especially people with different neurodivergence than mine, but I just find it funny how so many people have problems like this. I'm out here trying to educate myself on living sustainably only to learn people have issues I didn't even think existed. Like, yea, I do find the odd vegetable that shriveled beyond recognition when I visit my parents, but it genuinely has me godsmacked how something this surreal is a real issue worth paying attention to. I thought the problem with people throwing food away was like, burning the dinner and making a new one or buying a pack of something they realized they don't like and throwing it all away. Again, not to sound disrespectful or judgmental, but it's actually tragicomedic to me how people just... buy so much food that they have trouble accounting for it and it just goes bad.
Curious where you live. It's really common in a lot of the US to grocery shop like 1x per week max. Growing up, my dad had 2 full size refrigerators. He was often guilty of being overly optimistic about what would get eaten and how long it would take
@@supernova622 I live in Europe, I'm pretty sure people here also do these things but it never even crossed my mind it could be an actual problem. It's not like I've never thrown away bad food but needing to change one's habits to avoid it because it happens so much blows my mind. I can understand working hours upon hours every week and only having time to do the shopping for the weekend but surely someone old enough to work knows how much food they're going to need for 7 days.
I think it just goes to show that people struggle with different things
@@toxihex876 Another thing that can contribute to food spoilage is the size of packaging in North America, I'm thinking about bags of spinach or fresh-cut broccoli or grapes. . . Like grapes at my grocery store come in pre-measured bags or clamshells of about 1kg. That's way too much for me to eat in a week as single person, so my options if I want to avoid food spoilage are either don't buy grapes, or find a way to freeze or give away what I won't eat. If grocery stores in my area had bulk grapes, that would solve my problem. But they don't.
Freeze frapes, then you hVe little individual icelollies
❤
Learn to can and dehydrate your fruits and veg before they go bad. Tops and tails of most veg can be used up to make fabulous veg broth.
I also can not prep meals. It's annoying but I make a fresh dinner basically everyday
could you try making an extra serving of food when you cook, and have that the following night
@@L83467 yes! I've done that but more than one day grossed me out. I've batch made soup or sauce to freeze but anything else I'm not a fan of
@@nataliawineland34 fair enough!
@@nataliawineland34Same! While watching meal-prep videos I'm always bamboozled how it works. Is it not going bad for a week, really? Food from few days ago makes my sort of a spicy brain go "nope, not gonna happen".
@@andaminiart4288 yes same! I tried it once and made enough food for three days and got so grossed out !
I haven't watched the video yet, but can we please talk about how wasteful plastic milk jugs are?
WAIT! I see you there, lurking in the comments. LOL Before you say about how horrible dairy is for your health and the planet and yadda yadda, I don't want to hear it. We all have our "thing" and dairy is just something our family isn't willing to give up. So commenting anything negative will be counter-productive. So... Please and thank you!
That being said, considering our family DOES want to drink & eat dairy... why in the world isn't there a more sustainable option? I know some places like Canada have bagged milk. And yeah, it's still waste, but I feel like it's a lot better option than the big plastic jugs that take up so much room in a trash bag.
I live in a very rural area. If I want to recycle, I literally have to DRIVE an hour (one way). We don't have recycling pickup at all, not for plastic, paper... nothing. So I'll be honest, we just don't recycle. We have a tiny car, tiny home, somewhat small piece of land... limited space to keep things... it's very unlikely we'll start recycling anytime soon.
So we try to make changes in other ways, like reusable bottles, shopping less, growing food, second hand shopping, etc. I want to be able to refill a glass container of milk, dang it! There is a store here that sells glass containers that you can... again... recycle... but it's nearly twice the price. And it's not really refillable. You still have to buy a new container each time and figure out what to do with the old one. But this time, it's heavy and breakable and f'n expensive. I really wish bagged milk was a thing around here. Like I said, I know plastic bags suck, but it takes so much less space in the trash. How can I make this a thing?
Oh... and I considered powdered milk instead, but if anyone has looked at the price, you'd see why I said no. We're really poor... like living paycheck to paycheck, only one person working, living off charity & EBT, house falling in but can't fix it level of poor. Powdered milk would be one step away from a luxury...
IDK maybe I should figure out a way to invest in a dairy cow. LOL
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❤❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉
I was at meijer the other month and they had fruit cups that literally needed eaten like same day for .50 off. Sorry but if I’m buying something so close to just being thrown away like at that point cut your losses and just sell it at cost so it doesn’t get wasted.
Hey Shel, really appreciate your content. I just want to understand why you aren't using your platform to talk about the gen*cide taking place in Palestine? The brands to boycott and the reason to do so? Surely there can't be anything more unsustainable to the environment than bombing 15,000 tonnes of explosives in Gaza (MORE THAN WHAT WAS DROPPED IN HIROSHIMA) and killing more than 9000+ people, 3800 of which are children? I sincerely can't imagine anything more unsustainable and MALICIOUS to the environment than supporting the brands that support Isreal? Your tax money is supporting a g*nocide, is this not a colossal environmental concern?