What do food bloggers do with all that food?
Do you ever wonder if the food you see in those beautiful photos on blogs and on Pinterest actually gets eaten? What do food bloggers do with all that food? Is it photographed and then tossed?
You may have heard stories about food companies who spend hours doing a photo shoot, and then throw out the food that has spoiled from sitting under hot lights. I've heard tales about roast chickens that are partially cooked (to retain their plump shape) "painted" to look like they've been roasting in the oven, photographed, and then tossed out in the trash.
Right after Christmas this year, I was in Costco, waiting in line to return an article of clothing. The woman ahead of me was returning a raw turkey.
Yes, you read that right. She was returning her Christmas turkey. I wasn't the only one who was shocked at this waste. After the woman left, even the cashier commented that it sickened her to have to simply throw that turkey away. That bird was raised and killed . . . for nothing.
This week, Marly from the blog Namely Marly touched on the subject of food waste on her ChoppedCon podcast just before her interview with Taylor Kiser of Food, Faith and Fitness. She mentioned her concern about a recent discussion about food waste sometimes being a part of food blogging. Do food bloggers waste food? I mean, just look at the food photos that appear in your inbox daily. Food bloggers can't possibly eat it all, can they?
Well, as Marly reassured her listeners, nothing gets wasted in her home. And no food goes to waste in mine. We eat whatever we cook. What you see on Flavour and Savour is what we have eaten, sometimes just a day or two before! I had to laugh when she told us how her husband, Shawn, will happily polish off even the "food fails," because my husband, Denis, does the same. No, he doesn't overeat, and no, he's not overweight. He is simply not a fussy eater. If the banana bread didn't set perfectly in the middle, he'll eat it anyway. He hates to see food tossed out. Here are a few tips to avoid food waste . . . and save money as a result.
7 Tips to Avoid Food Waste
1. I plan the recipes I want to share based on what is stored in my pantry, what is in season, or what my garden happens to be producing. I try to use up what I have on hand before buying new ingredients.
2. I rotate posts about appetizers, dinners, salads, and desserts so that I cook only what we need in our home at that time. If I'm having a party, I'll focus on appetizers and finger foods; on weekdays, I'll make family-style dinners.
3. I use special ingredients I've bought in more than one recipe. For example, if I've bought strawberries, I might use them to make a salad and a smoothie bowl.
4. I often freeze what we don't eat that day. If I make a batch of muffins, I'll keep a couple of them to eat fresh and freeze the rest. I freeze extra dinner dishes to have on those days when I've spent the day creating desserts or appetizers for the blog. We often have big family dinners here on Sundays and I find it helpful to always have something to retrieve from the freezer for dessert.
5. We love leftovers! Leftover salads get eaten the following day for lunch and once a week we will have a "use it up" meal where we eat any items that might be close to spoiling.
6. I store food in glass containers so I can see what's in them and avoid those "mystery items" that get shoved to the back of the fridge.
7. I use my food scraps whenever feasible. Chicken carcasses go into the slow cooker along with scraps of onions, leeks, carrots, and celery to make rich, healthy bone broth. I save asparagus tips to make asparagus soup. Celery leaves and the less than perfect stalks are perfect for adding to soups and stews. Anything else goes into my garden composter where it gets turned into rich compost to feed my plants. A friend of mine dehydrates scraps of spinach, kale and chard greens, grinds them to a powder and adds a spoonful to her morning smoothie. Isn't that brilliant?
I'd like to tell you that nothing is ever wasted. But I'm not perfect. I do find things in the back of my fridge that have spoiled. I occasionally buy too much of one produce item and find it has turned to slime. But I can say that all the food I prepare for my blog is eaten. I make it, photograph it, and it gets enjoyed.
Food Waste in the News
The subject of food waste has been in world news lately, as well. Change.org is circulating a petition to encourage Costco to stop throwing away food. As Costco has no food-recovery program in place, it composts 45 million pounds of food annually. Food is not marked down in price as it nears its best-before date. It is simply thrown out. Wasted.
I am not singling out Costco. I shop there all the time. I suspect that other large food chains follow the same policy, striving to keep their products fresh and maintaining their stores' reputation for selling quality food. I also suspect that this practice of tossing out perfectly good food will begin to end soon, as more of us press for change. The move to selling "ugly" fruit and vegetables is taking hold in many parts of the continent. In fact, France has recently passed a law forbidding supermarkets to throw food away and requiring them to donate it to food banks and charities. Campaigners are hoping that other countries in the EU will follow suit to help avoid food waste on the continent.
So, rest assured that those of us who spend the better part of our days in the kitchen, behind a camera, or on our computer writing about food are very conscious of its value. Food is my passion, not in the sense that I want to gorge on delicious meals, (well, I do . . . ) but because I always find a new technique to learn, different flavours to combine, or new ethnic dishes to try. Cooking is a creative outlet for me. The science behind baking never fails to fascinate me and my goal to improve my nutrition and create healthy meals for my readers and my family is something I work on every day. Throw away good food? Not in my house.
How do you avoid food waste in your home? I'd love to hear your tips and ideas. Leave me a comment so we can all benefit.
Jackie says
A few years back we went through a stage of eating frozen meals for lunch - usually 300 calories or less, but often high in sodium. We liked the convenience of having something healthier available at all times to prevent scarfing down pies and chips when really hungry. So, I decided to make my own, and collected all the used containers, and started to make leftovers into frozen meals. I bought some large bags of frozen peas and corn to make sure all meals had veggies. One Christmas, I literally got about 30 light meals from the leftover turkey: a few slices turkey, small portions of mashed potato, dressing, cranberry sauce, leftover veggies or some corn and/or peas. I had no idea what was possible, but that $12 sale turkey provided about 40 meals in total, including freezable soup made from the bones. Are you kidding me?????
Flavour & Savour says
Now there's one turkey that did NOT go to waste! That's a fabulous idea. And who wouldn't love to have a turkey dinner (or lunch) with all the trimmings later in the year? Thanks for sharing!
Julia says
Elaine, what a great subject! Food waste is always a concern of mine and it bothers me, and even makes me a little sick, when I have to throw away food. I try my best to use everything up before moving on to new stuff. I have a sister in law who has done work for several magazines, the cooking side only. She said it was shocking to see most of the food she cooked just simply thrown in the trash. So, yes, we need less waste. Great post!
Flavour & Savour says
Thanks for commenting, Julia! Agreed, it's a topic that we all need to address, especially with the inequalities in our world. I think writing about it, and talking about it makes us all more conscious of our practices in our own kitchens.
Marly says
Thanks for this great post! I'm so glad to see there are others who agree. I can't believe someone would return a raw turkey. I mean, what do they think will happen to that turkey! Like you say, it's probably going to be trashed. I used to go to lunch with a workmate who knew I was vegan. One time she ordered the chicken salad and then pushed the chicken to one side and said, "See? I'm not eating all this chicken!" I took one look at her plate and felt such sorrow for that poor chicken that probably lived in miserable circumstances only to become trash. There was someone else with us that day and she volunteered to take home the leftover, untouched chicken pieces. Being thoughtful about food waste and ways to reduce that is so important. Thanks so much for this post - some very useful tips!
Flavour & Savour says
Thanks Marly! And don't forget it was YOUR podcast that inspired me to write this post. I love listening to you and your guests every Wednesday. Thanks for commenting.
Andrea says
My blog, which is on hiatus right now, is about baking. And all that baking that I did I usually did for occasions and get togethers so that I wouldn't waste food.
I attended a conference and there was a workshop about food photography. The professionals spoke about prepping food and how to this and that to make it look appealing. And it was all with this artificial stuff and not real. And I thought, you know, I rather have real food in that picture than some frankenfood that gets tossed out cause it is glazed with who knows what.
Anyway, I am big fan of composting. So that food that does get wasted, sadly, because I bought too much, or forgot about it, will get a new life and will provide nourishment for my garden.
Flavour & Savour says
I totally agree, Andrea. I'd much see "real food" that the food blogger's family will be eating than something that has been artificially enhanced just for a photo shoot. And composting is such a great way to recycle our scraps and avoid having it end up in a landfill. Thanks for your thoughtful comments!
Inci @ Bella's Apron says
This is a great topic. Thank you for sharing this Elaine. I just started my blog and all the food I make we eat. Most of the desserts go to my work or my husbands work. They love it! Leftovers get put into containers and we eat it the rest of the week. I even give my mom and mother-in-law some of our leftovers.
It's sad to see food wasted...
Please share more articles like these that involve blogger foods. It helps out new bloggers like myself.
Flavour & Savour says
Thanks so much! I'll bet you're very popular with your co-workers! Yes--I agree. Food is meant to be shared, but never wasted. Thanks so much for commenting, and good luck with your blog!