Making food out of ‘trash’: Shuggie’s chefs share some simple ways to use leftovers in the fridge (and more)
Use this wholesome bean dish as a dumpster for all of the leftovers in the fridge. I’ve added squid, octopus, numerous different veggies, tired greens, fennel … anything!”
There are simple ways to use leftover food in your refrigerator. To help you get started, NPR asked Shuggie’s chef Murphy to share some ideas. Below you’ll find three of his creative yet simple recipes that make use of commonly leftover items.
It will take a lot more restaurants to do this work, and a lot more customers to do it, to make a difference in the food waste problem. That is true for both eating out and at home. Reducing food waste and greenhouse gasses is a huge climate solution if that shift happens.
“To look at the imperfect food, that it doesn’t have to be the best of everything, is a new way of looking at their food,” said Jordan Bow, founder of Royal Hawaiian Seafood, and Shuggie’s main seafood source. I’m hoping that the chefs will be innovative and not do what everyone else does.
Like a few other sustainability-focused restaurants and chains in the U.S. (e.g. Emmer & Rye Hospitality Group in Austin and San Antonio, Texas, and Lighthouse in Brooklyn, New York) Shuggie’s sources food that local producers cannot sell because there’s a surplus, it looks irregular, or it’s past its prime.
Source: One restaurant has a way to fight food waste: Making food out of ‘trash’
Food Independence Gardens: How the Urban Farmer’s Project Can Help Stop Climate Change from Happening Without Our Natural Fermion, Milk or Methane
According to a research by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Americans spend more on food out in this country than they do back home, and the restaurant industry handles 10 million tons of leftover food every year.
Methane traps more heat than carbon dioxide, which causes global warming. An estimated 60% of methane emissions are human-caused and come largely from agriculture, fossil fuels and food waste decomposing in landfills.
But if everyone ate fare that might otherwise be thrown out — say, weird animal parts or milk that’s close to its sell-by date — we’d significantly reduce the impacts of human-caused climate change.
Climate change is affecting our food. Stories and conversations about the search for solutions is the topic of the week for NPR.
There are many sites called Food Independence Gardens in the city. To date, the organization has given away tons of food to people and families throughout Pierce County.
David Thompson is an urban farmer in Tacoma, Washington, who is trying to fight food insecurity by to connecting people to fresh fruits and vegetables.
Community-level approaches to composting food waste: The case of the North Hollywood school at the New Hampshire-Massachusetts border
Paula Moran said that there are people who do this every single day for their job. It is a big deal if you volunteer just one day a year but at least you get to see how hard people work.
Last fall, after an unseasonably wet and unpredictable growing season, volunteers gathered at Kimball Fruit Farms, located at the New Hampshire–Massachusetts border, to glean. The process of sharing leftover produce involves picking people in need off the street.
Where that compost ends up can also have a powerful impact. A project to support almond orchards outside of the city using food waste collected from residences in the city.
California has a law requiring the recycling of municipal food waste, so it would have been easier for the campus staff to throw the food waste into a green bin.
The K-8 students at the North Hollywood school put a giant banner over the five-foot containers in order to encourage people to throw out their food waste.
Some community-led solutions to the latter can be found below. The scale of the problem can be benefited from a community-wide approach, even if it doesn’t start at home.
Source: Creative ways communities are reducing food waste
What do oysters do to help the Gulf South? A survey of Alabama’s coastal oysters in the state of Atgerae, Alabama
Oyster reefs on Alabama’s coast, like many others in the Gulf South, have taken a beating from climate change. Returning oyster shells to the water helps more oysters grow in their place to play an important role in their ecosystem. They filter and improve the water quality; give a home to fish, crabs, and other animals; and help with erosion by providing natural protection to the shoreline.