Processed Foods = Lots of Waste

For a while now, I have been thinking about food - and it's equation both in our health, and our environmental footprint.  Until a few weeks ago, we ate the Standard American Diet (S.A.D. = lots of carbohydrates, protein and fat, not as many fruits and vegetables as we should have been eating.  Our diet was full of processed foods.).  I knew we needed to eat better, but so I just couldn't find the right plan.  Little did I know that a couple of hours in front of the television would challenge me to completely rethink my food intake.  We watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. It is a movie about an Australian man who comes to the U.S. overweight, and goes on a 60 day juice fast.

What I learned was that as a nation we are not very healthy, and that changes to become much more healthy are relatively easy.  The movie follows the nutrition advice of Dr. Furhman.  He believes we should eat like "nutritarians" - that is 50% vegetables, A good amount of fruits, some nuts, seeds and beans, and very little meat, dairy, etc.  In short... Eat your vegetables!

Our diet as a family has changed drastically.

Now for breakfast, instead of a processed cereal or toast and an egg, we are having mean green juice, or something similar.
Lunch is usually a salad or vegetable soup.
Dinner is again plant based, tonight we are having quinoa with sweet potatoes, kale and apples.

So why am I writing about this on a blog about trash?  When we started eating like this 15 or so days ago, I wasn't even thinking much about our less waste journey.  But, what I've learned along the way  is that virtually everything we eat can be purchased with either none or minimal packaging.  But for the most part, we are quickly becoming friends with our local farmers, we can get our bean and grain needs at the bulk bins.

I take my own bags and containers to shop.  So very little waste is made.  I read something along the way that really made sense for me.  It said - if your food is wrapped in plastic and all boxed up, and you can't identify the ingredients - how healthy can it be for you?

Other Tips:

• Remains from making juice go into the compost bin. 
• Vegetables that are starting to look tired go into soup. 
• Extra soup is put in the freezer for a future meal. 
• We "mine" our refrigerator to eat the oldest produce first.  This is a great way to prevent yourself from over buying produce. 

According to the National Resources Defense Council, "Feeding the U.S. population requires an enormous amount of land and resources. Yet, 40 percent of food in the U.S. goes to waste. When the resources to grow that food are considered, this amounts to approximately 25 percent of all freshwater, 4 percent of the oil we consume, and more than $165 billion dollars all dedicated to producing food that never gets eaten. Reducing your own food waste is an easy way to trim down your bills and your environmental footprint." 

Other helpful hints for reducing food waste:

• Shop Smart - don't buy more than you can consume. 
• Expiration Dates - Did you know that in the U.S. Expiration dates on food are only regulated on baby food.  All other "best by" dates are only guidelines from the manufacturers. 

Our food waste is down, and we had been pretty careful in the past. 
Who knew that helping myself would also help the earth?!

Want to know more about food waste, look at this excellent infographic from the National Resources Defense Council.
If you are curious about our new food habits, take a look here, at Reboot With Joe. 
Here is another good source of recipes, and information about plant based eating.