Fresh Focus Podcast: NNM® Series,
Host: Yaqutullah Muhammad, Hillary Markey
Title: Reducing Food Waste

Transcript:

Yaqutullah: Alright, Welcome to another episode of Fresh Focus. I am Yaqutullah, a Registered Dietitian and Program/project manager at the Atlanta VAHSC and I will be your host today and I’m joined today by Hillary. Hillary tell me a little bit about yourself

Hillary: yeah I’m Hillary, I am down here in the Tampa VA. I work as the healthy teaching kitchen coordinator. I have been at the VA for almost 8 years. I co chair the NNM workgroup. I have a background in culinary before I became a RDN now I am also a RDN and loving working at the VA.

Yaqutullah: That’s so awesome, The episodes in this National Nutrition Month series we will be providing you with multiple ways on how to eat healthy on a budget, how a dietitian can assist you with managing the rise of cost of food, meal planning ideas and ways to be successful in reducing food waste while adding in balanced nutritious and delicious meals. We as dietitians celebrate the month of March each year as it is a whole month dedicated to promoting our profession of Nutrition services as well as delivering nutrition education messages. We are here to assist our vetearns and their families with any nutrition related questions.

Hillary: yes it is important if you have any specific questions for your diet and health to reach out to your local VA Dietitian at your site they can certainly help you with your specific questions for you.

Yaqutullah: with the VA we have a whole host of resources to help you, in this episode I thought it would be a good idea to focus on ways to reduce food waste. Food waste is any food not eaten, cooked or uncooked. Right, so think of it as throwing away edible food is literally tossing money into the trash and we want to make sure you have some great practical tips to avoid that to help save money and save you some time with meal planning as well. I know you teach healthy teaching kitchens every week, Hillary, what are some of the ways you tell veternas to help with food waste?

Hillary: yeah so reducing food waste it is just so important not only for our budget but also for the environment. We can actually help reduce food waste in a lot of different ways and different steps through the process, it starts at the grocery store, jump to the kitchen, and at our home or a friends house while you are enjoying food and making sure we are using up what we already have.

Yaqutullah: yeah that is absolutely a great point because it isn’t just after the food is cooked we can start in our own kitchen before we even step in the grocery store by making sure we identify these recipes we have recipes available and meal ideas to guide the process not just buying what looks good but having a plan how to use it and what dishes we want to use it in.

Hillary: yeah The first you can really do to start with helping reduce food waste is to takjing an Inventory items you have on hand so you don’t purchase duplicate items that may go to waste if we have produce we need to use up, we want to start there. Look at what you have. Look in what you have look in our cupboards, fridge, and freezer, staring off with those ingredients that you have before purchasing more of them

Yaqutullah: definitely taking inventory is key, we don’t want to get home and realize we bought duplicates of something without realizing that is just more food on hand.

Hillary: Making a shopping list is the second tip on how to reduce food waste for sure….. we only need to buy what we need. And we need to have a plan for the items you purchase by identifying recipes that you plan to use them in like you mentioned. There are plenty of those ideas on the healthy teaching kitchen site and VA HTK YouTube channel so be sure to check out for more ideas there. At the grocery store It can be a good idea to buy small amounts of those perishables as some fresh vegetables and fruits don’t last as long. If we buy small amounts more often to ensure you can eat the foods without throwing any away.

Yaqutullah: absolutely those are great tips, look for and purchase “ugly” fruits or vegetables that often get left behind at the grocery store but are safe to eat. “Ugly” produce has physical imperfections but are not damaged or rotten. They may just look a little different. “Ugly” fruits and vegetables are safe and nutritious and can sometimes be found at discounted prices. What is another few tips while at the grocery store? Some times when I shop with my son he likes ripe bananas they are actually free free fruits for the kids and keeps him happy and mellow while we shop. What other tips can we look at the grocery store?

Hillary: Shop the sales, BOGO deals and local in-season produce. You can freeze BOGO breads and meats to use in the future. BOGO dry and canned goods are a great option to help keep your pantry stocked. The added bonus is that it can help with making a fast, easy meal when you are running low on groceries. Using local in-season produce is often a very affordable option. When local, seasonal food is harvested for instance strawberries or apples, there going to be in abundance and often a lot of it and that means the cost goes down compared to when it is out of season and being shipped in from somewhere during out of season and that can make it more affordable. And its also a great idea to check your schedule. Are there nights you’ll be out or commitments that will impact who’s home for dinner? Pulling those shelf stable pantry items you can make a fast easy meal, that may change if you are cooking for 1 or 2 if spouse is out of town or kids in sports take that inconsideration and not cook as much so you don’t have that much leftover.

Yaqutullah: I am going to second that because when you are looking at the week ahead if you know you wont be home for a few nights then we need to take that in consideration on our weekly trip to the grocery we may need to purchase frozen items versus fresh that week too. Or that’s when you need to plan to use those leftovers on those nights so you can heat up something quickly from the day before, if you are eating out grab a to go box container so you don’t have to waste the rest of that meal and you have a meal ready for the next day. I try to pack some extra containers when we have family and guests over too so they can take some food back home with them.

Hillary: I love that, those extra meals or leftovers, I like to call that plan ahead meals. Plan ahead and have meals or lunch the next day for you or for family or guests you have over. so utilizing leftovers may take some creativity too think of ways to repurpose them if you don’t feel like eating the same meal over, if you cook chicken you can add different seasonings or add in other ingredients to make a different dish taking something and making it into a different dish can be nice. Use those “ugly” fruits or vegetables to whip up healthy smoothies and soups for your friends or family. No one will notice the difference! Remember just one bad spot doesn’t mean you have to throw it away you could cut off the bad spot of a banana and still enjoy it. Or remember to use your scraps is also an important part….. so many parts of a vegetable that often get thrown out but are perfectly edible, like carrot tops and broccoli stems. Carrot tops can become pesto and broccoli stems can become slaw se herb stems in soups, stews and salads instead of discarding them. Add celery leaves to your next soup for extra flavor. Or make a little celery leaf salad out of them. It’s not Halloween time now but remember to save pumpkin seeds and roast them later. When you carve pumpkins or open a squash you can use those seeds as a salad topper or a really tasty snack. You can even regrow some of your kitchen scraps try regrowing green onions you can get a little green onion pop up. same things go with celery and some lettucess or place a stalk of your romaine lettuce in a cup of water and once they sprout you can transfer to soil to grow even further.

Yaqutullah: those are great tips. I love those especially if you are thinking about growing your own garden out of some of the scraps versus tossing them out what a great idea you can check out series 7 for more gardening tips and tricks.

Hillary: Grow your own herbs is really great or just one or two small vegetables in a container. You don’t have to have a full garden. some vegetables such as leafy greens, they are easy starter items, grown well in containers and can add a lot of flavor and nutrition to any meal. Food packaging can have a lot of waste and if we can grow at home items we always have fresh food on hand. If you do grow your own herbs or vegetables, consider starting a small compost bin for food scraps that you aren’t going to cook with. This can take food waste and turn it into gardening gold. Just be sure to avoid adding cooked foods, meats and dairy. If you don’t want to compost many local gardens have a composting program and may be willing to take your food scraps. Look around in your area every where is a little different.

Yaqutullah: I had a veteran ask that the other day and we were looking on youtube. How to get compost heap started I actually started one on the outside of my house, secure it rope it off and turn it every so often and helps with the soil you use in your garden. Some of the favorite herbs mint cilantro can really add to your atmosphere of you kitchen. I also like to review with Veterans and their family members to be mindful of serving sizes of items too, that makes a difference in reducing food waste, Maybe try preparing smaller portions and keeping the rest of package in the freezer too if you know you will not be able to eat more that item this week. Or if it works best for you,
Cooking in batches is a great way to cut down on meal prep time in the kitchen but be sure you can utilize everything you are cooking within a reasonable time so it doesn’t go bad.

Hillary: yes batch cooking can great and kind of a win win you get a chance to cook once and you can use it later for multiple meals and cut down on potential for food waste. If you do dry beans or animal proteins or grains. It’s a great way you can prepare extra meals without extra time. Make sure you are not making if we are doing batch cooking that we make sure we don’t make too much or have a plan to freeze it so you can use it up and have a plan to use any extra. Want to make sure those items don’t end up in the trash as food waste.

Yaqutullah: great tips, how does a veteran find out more information on healthy teaching kitchens

Hillary: yeah so all the VA’s have HTK, there is a website you can go to online and find out what is available at your site or you can also contact your PACT RDN at your local site, theres a website its nutrition/recipes that will show you all the different recipes used in HTK, theres new ones being added there is cookbooks being added, if you are focusing weight management or diabetes management or cutting back on salt intake if you are watching salt for blood pressure. . Recipes have that information provided to help you make the best assessment for yourself.

Yaqutullah: those recipes and cookbooks are a win win and a favorite of our veterans, they always come and ask if there is a recipe for that and we show them the site and there a lot of recipes and there are 4-5 cookbooks on there to download a great resource our veterans can use. thank you Hillary! Don’t hesitate to reach out to your local VA clinic. Any last tidbits to remember on reducing food waste?

Hillary: you know a couple things we may not think about, relate a little to food safety, we want to make sure our foods are safe, start checking to be sure temp settings are accurate, refrigerator temps at 40° F or below to keep foods safe. The temperature of your freezer should be 0° F. thinking about we call it sometimes that drawer where things go to die the bottom drawer for produce looking in there and checking in there and you aren’t letting things go bad, check for perisable items before you go to the grocery store, pulling things up front and cycling through what you have can be really helpful that way and using up what we have and can really help reduce food fist.

Yaqutullah: those are awesome tips, I like to use FIFO first in first out, rotating what you have in your refrigerator. Check your fridge often to keep track of what you have and what needs to be used. Eat or freeze items before you need to throw them away. Follow the 2-Hour Rule. For safety reasons, don’t leave perishables out at room temperature for more than two hours, unless you're keeping it hot or cold. If the temperature is above 90° F, food shouldn’t be left out for more than one hour. And make note of those expiration dates (sell by and use by dates) too so we aren’t letting items sit in fridge and then have to toss them out after they have expired. Thank you for being on here with me today Hillary. We’ll see you next time, thank you for listening please don’t forget to like, subscribe to this podcast.