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1. Make a weekly meal plan

Before going grocery shopping, check your fridge and pantry to inform which meals you plan to make for the week. For example, if you have mushrooms, a head of lettuce, tortillas and cheese, find or create recipes that use these ingredients first. 

To supplement what you already have, choose additional meals, breakfasts and snacks you plan to make and write a list of the ingredients you need from the grocery store. 

Tip: when cooking large batches that might not be finished over the next 3 days, try freezing leftovers into individual portions that you can save for future weeks.

2. Preserve your produce

Shop smarter: buy fruits and veggies at different stages of ripeness, and before you buy fresh produce in bulk, make sure you have enough storage space to freeze or preserve them before they go bad. 

Quick tips for fruits and vegetables:

• Store fresh fruit and vegetables unwashed. Wash just before you eat them
• Keep fruits and vegetables in different fridge drawers if your fridge has separate compartments.
• Save and freeze vegetable scraps to make your own broths!

3. Get creative with overripe fruits and vegetables

Overripe fruits and vegetables do not have to be tossed. You can use them to make jams, chutneys, baked goods, popsicles, smoothies, salad dressings, sauces, and casseroles.

More tips to salvage overripe fruits and veg:

• Make banana bread of course, but if you’re tired of that, try banana and oat pancakes, or freeze slices for cold and creamy smoothies. 
• Aside from cucumbers, you can also pickle radishes, carrots, banana peppers, cabbage, tomatoes and more! 
• Revive wilted vegetables with a cold water bath for 5-10 minutes.

4. Chill your fridge and reorganize your pantry

Your food will stay fresher for up to three extra days if your fridge is set between 0–4°C. This temperature range slows the bacteria growth that spoil food.

Where to put your food in the fridge:

• Upper shelves: leftovers, beverages, field berries.
• Middle shelves: milk, eggs and dairy towards the back of the fridge. Keep eggs in their cartoon to help them last 3-5 weeks. 
• Bottom shelf: Keep packages of raw meat, poultry and fish in a separate plastic bag, bowl or pan on the lowest refrigerator shelf. This keeps juices from dripping onto other foods, and the lowest shelf is usually the coldest.
• Low humidity drawer: fruit.
• High humidity drawer: vegetables.

Pantry items:

• Canned foods can last 2 or more years, given room temperature does not exceed 36°C.
• Mayo, peanut butter and other condiments like mustard, ketchup, fish sauce, soy sauce and hot sauce can be stored in the pantry. Move mayo to the fridge when it’s been opened. 
• Fruits with pits should be placed in a closed paper bag until ripe. Once ripe, refrigerate.
• Keep tomatoes in the pantry if you plan to eat them within 1-2 days, otherwise store in the fridge.
• Keep potatoes and onions in a cool, dark place but make sure to keep onions and potatoes separate!

5. Learn what ‘use by’ and ‘best before’ dates really mean

Dates on packaged food can be a bit confusing. Here are some tips to help you better understand what they really mean and prevent unnecessary food waste.

‘Best before’ refers to the food quality before the given date. After this date, it may not be the best quality but it will still be safe to eat. You can use your judgement by look, smell and feel. Here is a guide to a few key food items and how long they can be eaten after the best before date:

• Chips: 1 month
• Cookies: 6 months
• Cereals: 6 months
• Canned food: 1 year
• Candies: 1 year
• Pasta sauce: 1 year
• Dried pasta: 3 years

‘Use by’ or ‘expiration date’ refers to safety, that is, you must not eat this food past this date. This is because although the food may appear to be perfectly fine to eat, it may be spoiled and lead to food poisoning. Do NOT eat food past the ‘use by/expiration’ date, even if it looks and smells ok.

The Takeaway

Reducing your food waste has positive impacts on the environment and your wallet. Each time you grocery shop, cook and store food, you can learn how to prevent throwing out spoiled food the next time. Take one step at a time and you will notice less food in the bin each week!

Written by: Tracy Jane Toledo, MScA, RD

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