April 28th is Stop Food Waste Day

33%

of all food produced globally is lost or wasted every year

45%

of root crops, fruit and vegetables produced globally is lost or wasted per year

$1,866

the annual cost of food wasted by the average American family

25%

of the food wasted globally could feed all 795 million undernourished people in the world

8%

of all greenhouse gas emissions each year are due to food loss and waste*

Food Rescue at the Co-op

Food rescue (limiting as much food waste as we can while prioritizing public health and safety) is embedded in our Ends Statement, the Seven Cooperative Principles, and our Strategic Plan. Fighting food insecurity in our community has always been a priority. Our avenues for donating have not changed, but we have improved our processes to more accurately communicate our efforts with our owners. Learn more by reading our food rescue blog.

Food Rescue Streams

Thanks to recent Green Team efforts, we can better track how our food is rescued.

Donations: We donate items that are still edible but may be damaged or fall shy of cosmetic standards, which means we can’t sell them.

Deli Food Rescue: Sometimes we have a large quantity of an unsellable, but still edible, items. The DFC Deli can use these items in production.

No Charge: We often have small quantities of edible, but unsellable items. These items are put in the breakroom for staff to take home free of charge. No Charge items also fill up our on-site Freedge.

Animal Greens: We set aside produce in unsellable quantities, like lettuce trimmings, for shoppers to take home to feed their animals. Animal greens are free – just ask a Produce Specialist about availability.

Composting: When an item is unsellable and inedible, we compost the food and recycle the packaging when possible. The City of Davis has a great composting facility, accepting even our meat scraps and bones!

Reduce Your Food Waste

Shop Bulk

Whether it’s 2 tsp of marjoram or 4 pounds of cremini mushrooms, shopping the Bulk Department can help ensure you buy only what you need. We have many items available in our Bulk Department. Check these aisles first to help curb your food waste. Read our buying in bulk blog for more info.

Be Prepared

You can cut down on your food waste if you have a plan in place! Plan out your meals for the week (including planning when is a good day to eat leftovers!) and make a grocery list before shopping. If you’re really feeling motivated, spend a few hours meal prepping. Read this blog with meal prep tips and a menu for the week!

Fortify your Fridge

If you’ve ever worked in food service or retail, you’ve probably familiar with what it means to FIFO: first in, first out. Applying this same process to your fridge can help cut down on food waste. Store older food in the front of your fridge and newer food in the back. This way, you have a visual reminder of the food you need to eat first.

Be sure you’re storing produce correctly. Proper storage can significantly impact how long your foods stays good.

Make Use of Your Freezer

You can freeze many fruits and vegetables before they go bad. Frozen bananas are an excellent addition to smoothies, herbs can be frozen in butter or oil, and leftovers can be kept in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Recipes to Limit Food Waste

Making your own broth or stock is a great way use ingredients that typically get thrown out (think onion skins and chicken bones). We have excellent recipes for veggie broth and bone broth.

Make banana bread with bananas that are dark and mushy.

Try our Clean-Out-the-Fridge Veggie Fried Rice recipe (pictured) when you have lots of odds and ends in the fridge! It works well with any grain: any kind of rice, quinoa, barley, and kamut are all great options.

Customizable Soup is another good option if you have leftovers that need to get used up.

This Flexible Veggie Casserole is another way to feed the whole family while preventing food waste.

Keep it Out of the Landfill

Compost It

Okay, so some of your food has gone bad. It happens. Instead of tossing it in the trash where it will go to a landfil and produce methane as it breaks down, compost it! The city of Davis collects compost in curbside bins – they can even take meat scraps, bones, and bioplastics labeled “compostable”.

You can also compost in your home. You get to keep all of that super nourishing compost for your garden if you do! Read our composting guide to learn more.

Keep a log of everything that has to get composted. You may learn that you actually don’t like radishes that much. Maybe you consistantly toss leftovers – next time, cut the recipe in half!

Donate it

If you have too much in your fridge or pantry, consider bringing unopened pantry items and edible produce to the Freedge at the Co-op! The Freedge is there for folks to take what they need and leave what they don’t. It’s a wonderful way to prevent food waste and strengthen our community bonds.

*data from Stop Food Waste Day