5 ms·

I imagine some of this comes from the waste of the restaurant system. So far in the lockdown, I've made every meal I've eaten and I have only wasted a couple of

I imagine some of this comes from the waste of the restaurant system. So far in the lockdown, I've made every meal I've eaten and I have only wasted a couple of sweet potatoes and some onions that went bad. And seeing those ingredients go to waste really upset me. From my past experiences working at restaurants tons of food goes into the garbage every week.

cdubzzz 6y ago
As an aside -- don't let "bad" vegetables go completely to waste. Compost them and grow new ones (if you have the space)!
- giantrobot 6y ago
  Not everyone has space/resources to do either of those things.
- 0xffff2 6y ago
  Sure, let me just set up a composting and hydroponics operation in my 400 sq. ft. apartment...
  - korethr 6y ago
    I'm not sure the snark is warranted. If you're truly living in 400 sq ft apartment, you're probably already used to thinking of your space utilization in a manner akin to 3-dimensional tetris. If that's the case, I'm sure you can find space for a small vermicomposting bin and one of those vertical planters. Even better if you have a small balcony or patio that gets some sunlight. When I was living in an apartment, more than one unit in my building would set up a small garden on the patio using various planters to host tomatoes, peppers, herbs, etc. No, that won't replace your need to go to the grocery store for fruits and veggies, but it will compliment it.
    - 0xffff2 6y ago
      My lease specifically forbids putting any plants outdoors (I don't have a patio to put them on, so they would be taking up space in shared walkways). And yes, space is limited, which is exactly why unless I want to start throwing away furniture I can't in fact find the space inside. There was no "snark" intended. My response is just as serious and practical as "Compose [sic] them and grow new ones!".
      - korethr 6y ago
        Fair enough. It came across as snark to me on my first read. And if you're under tight restrictions on what you can or can't do in your apartment (been there, done that, don't envy you), and have already reached a high level of 3-d tetris in your current layout, then yes, composting food scraps and using the compost to grow herbs or vegetables is going to be impractical.
      - cdubzzz 6y ago
        I fixed my comment to account for space (and to correct the typo -- thanks!). If your response was truly "serious and practical", GP has provided some excellent advice for you. Sad about the lease ): Nothing wrong with snark, though! I upvoted your initial comment.
- Tagbert 6y ago
  In the Seattle area, there is a municipal composting program. We have weekly pickup of trash, recycling, and compost.
throwaway55554 6y ago
You probably know this, but for others, onion (and other veggies) freeze well. I'll usually chop up most of the bag and put all of it in freezer bags and freeze laying flat (breaking them up during the freezing process to they stay loose). It is then easy to pour out half cup or whatever the recipe calls for.
- JoeAltmaier 6y ago
  Yeah we have a freezer for garden produce - tomatoes, peppers, beans etc. All portioned out in sizes useful for cooking.
grawprog 6y ago
It's the same at grocery stores, packing places and the farms. Food is wasted at each step along the process. I know grocery throw out a ton of food. There'd always be at least a shopping cart full a week of expired stuff that got thrown out when I worked in one. Some stores around here will leave old produce outside for people to take as animal feed, but the one I worked at did not. I imagine it's much the same at the packing and shipping places.
- JoeAltmaier 6y ago
  Wait, a shopping cart a week? And how many full shopping carts got sold in that week? 1000? This sounds like better than 99.9% efficiency. Where did I figure wrong?
  - grawprog 6y ago
    That was just from general grocery. I'm not sure how much the meat and bakery threw out but their garbage bins were always full of food. The produce department threw out boxes of fruits and vegetables daily. The dairy department probably threw out the least just because they ordered the least stock at one time.
    - smegger001 6y ago
      having worked at a large busy walmart in multiple fresh departments (bakery, deli and produce and a little in meats), there is a lot of waste in volume but compared to a through-put its not so bad. And a lot of it is because of customers. Anything that leaves cold chain is unsellable, so when a customer changes their mind and decides not to buy something it gets disposed of (meats are sent for rendering, produce an baked goods are composted.) I once sliced about $80 worth of a premium deli ham for a customer just to have them leave it on a shelf next to the refrigerator bunker that the presliced cheap hams were in. It was found by a grocery stocker and brought back warm a few hour later. I produce we threw away tons about half was out of dates the rest is damaged (distribution center put 50 lbs sack's of potatoes on top of berries, 40 boxes of onions on top of cardboard trays of tomatoes) or out of cold chain (customer leaves bagged salad laying around the store) the worst is when we would get sent "guac ready" avacados... (were ready to eat last week but are snot pods now)

cdubzzz 6y ago

As an aside -- don't let "bad" vegetables go completely to waste. Compost them and grow new ones (if you have the space)!

giantrobot 6y ago
Not everyone has space/resources to do either of those things.
0xffff2 6y ago
Sure, let me just set up a composting and hydroponics operation in my 400 sq. ft. apartment...
- korethr 6y ago
  I'm not sure the snark is warranted. If you're truly living in 400 sq ft apartment, you're probably already used to thinking of your space utilization in a manner akin to 3-dimensional tetris. If that's the case, I'm sure you can find space for a small vermicomposting bin and one of those vertical planters. Even better if you have a small balcony or patio that gets some sunlight. When I was living in an apartment, more than one unit in my building would set up a small garden on the patio using various planters to host tomatoes, peppers, herbs, etc. No, that won't replace your need to go to the grocery store for fruits and veggies, but it will compliment it.
  - 0xffff2 6y ago
    My lease specifically forbids putting any plants outdoors (I don't have a patio to put them on, so they would be taking up space in shared walkways). And yes, space is limited, which is exactly why unless I want to start throwing away furniture I can't in fact find the space inside. There was no "snark" intended. My response is just as serious and practical as "Compose [sic] them and grow new ones!".
    - korethr 6y ago
      Fair enough. It came across as snark to me on my first read. And if you're under tight restrictions on what you can or can't do in your apartment (been there, done that, don't envy you), and have already reached a high level of 3-d tetris in your current layout, then yes, composting food scraps and using the compost to grow herbs or vegetables is going to be impractical.
    - cdubzzz 6y ago
      I fixed my comment to account for space (and to correct the typo -- thanks!). If your response was truly "serious and practical", GP has provided some excellent advice for you. Sad about the lease ): Nothing wrong with snark, though! I upvoted your initial comment.
Tagbert 6y ago
In the Seattle area, there is a municipal composting program. We have weekly pickup of trash, recycling, and compost.

throwaway55554 6y ago

You probably know this, but for others, onion (and other veggies) freeze well. I'll usually chop up most of the bag and put all of it in freezer bags and freeze laying flat (breaking them up during the freezing process to they stay loose). It is then easy to pour out half cup or whatever the recipe calls for.

JoeAltmaier 6y ago
Yeah we have a freezer for garden produce - tomatoes, peppers, beans etc. All portioned out in sizes useful for cooking.

grawprog 6y ago

It's the same at grocery stores, packing places and the farms. Food is wasted at each step along the process. I know grocery throw out a ton of food. There'd always be at least a shopping cart full a week of expired stuff that got thrown out when I worked in one. Some stores around here will leave old produce outside for people to take as animal feed, but the one I worked at did not. I imagine it's much the same at the packing and shipping places.

JoeAltmaier 6y ago
Wait, a shopping cart a week? And how many full shopping carts got sold in that week? 1000? This sounds like better than 99.9% efficiency. Where did I figure wrong?
- grawprog 6y ago
  That was just from general grocery. I'm not sure how much the meat and bakery threw out but their garbage bins were always full of food. The produce department threw out boxes of fruits and vegetables daily. The dairy department probably threw out the least just because they ordered the least stock at one time.
  - smegger001 6y ago
    having worked at a large busy walmart in multiple fresh departments (bakery, deli and produce and a little in meats), there is a lot of waste in volume but compared to a through-put its not so bad. And a lot of it is because of customers. Anything that leaves cold chain is unsellable, so when a customer changes their mind and decides not to buy something it gets disposed of (meats are sent for rendering, produce an baked goods are composted.) I once sliced about $80 worth of a premium deli ham for a customer just to have them leave it on a shelf next to the refrigerator bunker that the presliced cheap hams were in. It was found by a grocery stocker and brought back warm a few hour later. I produce we threw away tons about half was out of dates the rest is damaged (distribution center put 50 lbs sack's of potatoes on top of berries, 40 boxes of onions on top of cardboard trays of tomatoes) or out of cold chain (customer leaves bagged salad laying around the store) the worst is when we would get sent "guac ready" avacados... (were ready to eat last week but are snot pods now)