Avoiding Food Waste

Since we have been growing our own food, our guests and I have enjoyed being outdoors in the garden more.  Barbara, a guest, comes by on the weekends and plants flowers because she is discouraged from working in the yard where she lives.  During this especially hot summer, Oswaldo, Dwight and Ron never complained about watering plants. Willy and Manny, previously employed as gardeners, took the time to carefully stake the plants and weed the beds.  Other benefits are that I have lost some of my winter weight gain and I have decreased the cost of feeding our guests.  One unexpected benefit, however, was that I was cutting down food waste.  Catherine sent me this great article which stated that Americans waste 40 percent of our food. This staggering statistic made me want to document our own efforts to cut food waste. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/08/22/159825659/theres-too-much-food-waste-but-here-are-five-things-people-are-doing-about-it?ft=1&f=1001

Through spring and summer we have been eating fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs and and flowers right out of the garden, therefore there is no need to drive to the grocery store nor have packaging to throw away. I've learned that many of the greens are edible too, like pea tendrils and beet greens.  I usually stir-fried  the greens, salt and pepper them, and put the greens with a little meat over rice or pasta. For another meal, I would added the caramelized beets, raisins from Sister Bernice and donated nuts from Brandeis students, to arugula greens.  Here are ways we are doing our share in keeping food waste down:

1. Composting -  The roots, inedible parts of the plants and coffee grounds are composted.  We will mix the compost into the beds before we start the second season crops of broccoli raab, arugula, kale, collards.  These plants will probably last through November without much protection.  Judy from Healthy Waltham ( http://www.healthy-waltham.org) also suggest that we plant a couple of rows of spinach that can be winter over and be ready in the spring.

2. Rescued Foods from Local Stores - We receive foods that are still good, but close to sale-date from Roche Brothers, Trader Joe, Panera Breads and Gleaners ( http://bostonareagleaners.org).

Gleaners are volunteers who harvest left-over produce from farms to donate to food pantries and shelters.  The concern about these well-meaning efforts is that the foods are usually desserts, pastries, and vegetables and root vegetables that are not familiar to our guests.  I have been inhibited to  reaching out to these stores and organizations personally because of the already existing networks.

3. Redirecting Foods to the Needy - With this difficult economy, there has been greater demand for diapers, food and rent-subsidies.  We have opened our pantries and shared our food to meet some of these needs; others like diapers, we refer to Grandma's Pantry/Grandma's Attic at Christ Church Episcopal (http: www.christchurchwaltham.org/).  The Day Center's micro-loan program budget is small, but we can help with insurance co-pays, but help with rents we have referred to other programs.

Please pass along your ideas about how we can avoid food waste.  Contact Marilyn and Catherine at director@communitydaycenter.org.

Here are some pictures of the beautiful herbs, fruits and vegetables in our garden.  Enjoy!