Wednesday, March 4

a comment on crunchy food waste

Here was Crunchys report from yesterday on the final week of her no food waste challenge.

1 cup sour cream
12 oz buttermilk
3 jalapenos
1 cup salsa
3 heads of broccoli
1/2 cup black olives
1 head lettuce
1 lemon
1/3 onion
1 cup basil

Im not sure if it sacreligious to pass comment on Crunchy or not, but im doing it anyway. This just needed a comment from me as her role as a 'big gun' in blog land. Now people can fail, im not expecting perfection ( am i?) but this was pretty huge and for all her commentary and knowledge and committment im surprised. Most of that stuff could have gone in the freezer and Im sorry, well, wasting a whole cup of basil...just criminal! I suspect it may have something to do with the size of standard domestic American fridges ( you can get lost in those things!) The last time i commented on her blog i got shot down in flames by her devotees so im doing it here! lol

Im shocked. For an eco-guru, that was a lot of food waste for a week.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I suspect it's partly the size of the modern fridge, and partly the once a week shop. I've come to accept that I am no long-range menu-planner, so I shop for one or two days at a time, which I can plan for. I still have food waste because stuff (usually leftovers) gets lost in the fridge, or the kid doesn't eat it, or the bloke doesn't put it away (he's in charge of cleaning up after I cook).

I'm also conscious that a person with a seriously ill husband and two small kids isn't always gonna do all the stuff they know they should. Because people get tired, and stressed, they forget stuff, they lose track of the days of the week, and they somehow end up with three heads of broccoli.

Kelly said...

yeah, you're right.
Im sick, flu ridden and cranky. Sorry crunchy!

Anonymous said...

Totally agree and well said. I am sure Crunchy would not mind your comments - if she did she would not be so honest about all the food she has wasted.

I think food getting lost in the fridge is one of the major causes of food wastage. I now do a quick clean-out of the fridge on the same day every week and take note of something that needs to be eaten asap and feel guilty about something i may have forgotten about that has gone off. We have a really really small fridge which we have been planning on upgrading for years. I recently decided to stick with the small fridge to save on energy and save on food wastage. We are lucky enough to live walking distance from a major shopping centre.

Hope you get over your flu soon. Cheers,
Tricia

Minni Mum said...

Yeah I'm kinda on the fence about it too - her hubby is sick (although she doesn't use that as an excuse) but as you say, nearly all of that could have gone in the freezer, so it seemed a bit odd to me too? As Tricia said though, at least she's being honest! I've just hoiked a bag of mouldy squash into the compost and the rest went into the dog food I'm cooking today because I just. can't. face. another. squash. although it *could* have gone into the freezer before it got manky...

Hope you're feeling better soon.

Pip said...

I went and looked in my fridge before I commented. I have some mixed olives (I forgot about them hidden at the back of the fridge) growing something, and some sourdough starter which doesn't look the best (but I think can still be resurrected) everything else is still within the best before/use by date or will be used up by tomorrow night. When I do my menu plan I actually work out how many of each fruit and veg I need before I go and buy it, but then it is easier for me, there is only the 2 of us, and my husband is the type who trawls the fridge and eats leftovers and dry ends of bread. I do think that 3 heads of broccoli is a real waste, it could have been steamed, pureed and frozen for soup.
take care
Pip

Em said...

Similar thoughts here Kel - that seems like heaps to throw out, but I don't know the particulars of their life. I'm not organised to meal plan properly so we often end up with meals made of leftovers dug out of the fridge. It tends to be ok with just the kids and me, but maybe if I was cooking with a partner I'd feel obliged to do something more like a real meal (or maybe I'll wait till a partner who likes leftovers comes along).

But a few moments after judging that post I felt a snickle of embarrassment, b/c I've been known to use sour cream that is weeks past its useby date, because, well, it's already sour...

Anonymous said...

Surely something could have
been done with those three
heads of broccoli! I'm usually
pretty good about using stuff
up but at the moment I'm
being haunted by a head of
lettuce my husband brought home
from a function where it didn't
get used (I hate lettuce). One
more day and it's compost. Get
well soon!

Kelly said...

littleecofootprints- i think its because she was so honest that i felt a bit off passing judgement! and from expereince a small fridge certainly helps avoid the sludge in the vege drawer!

Julie - glad i wasnt the only one...composting home grown veg seems a bit of a lifecycle...maybe crunchy grew those 3 heads of brocolli...

RINI - commenting with a certifiable clear conscience, i like that! i think im shocked coz im a bit of a tight wad so that represented almost half a weeks worth of dinner! i dont plan so much as extend my brain into all sorts of possible food combinations!

em- i have been known to wash the white stuff off the olives and re-brine!...and sour cream, well that lasts for years, who needs UHT? yes, hang out for the leftover loving partner, i recommend them having tried both! lol

barbara- i think it was the fact that it was 3 not one or even half one that got me and being haunted by a lettuce head, well i laughed out loud! poor you. cant do much with the lettuce as we learnt a few posts ago!

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