Waste

A new chowder last night, with mushrooms and barley and cabbage, which was a little too milky/thick for my taste.  But hey, it served its purpose, which was to get lots of veggies and make our bellies feel warm and full.  In days past we've also enjoyed: Cuban black beans with plenty of homegrown tomatoes, though the end is in sight of those; quiche and chard; a Conference Sunday full of croissants, both our traditional cottage cheese ones at breakfast and also ham-filled rolls for dinner, made by Ian; and a roasted chicken, mashed potatoes/gravy, and asparagus for Lucy's birthday dinner.

Frugality question -- how much food do you waste?  It seems like I've heard some national numbers that are around 30%, which is a pretty mind-boggling amount.  Though I'm sure a large portion of that comes from school lunches, restaurants, etc. (another argument for packing your own lunch or eating at home when possible), there's still definitely the old-Tupperware-in-the-fridge problem.  I tend to be pretty diligent in using it all up, and very rarely have to dump much, but I've wondered how the average reader* handles extra food.  I sometimes even keep my original batch small on purpose so that we'll almost go hungry, figuring we'll find something else to scrounge (remember, we don't really keep snacks or ice cream around, so we're safer that way) if we run out, and I'd prefer that sometimes to a fridge full of festering leftovers.  Or I'll plan my next week's menu around certain ingredients if that's what I've got waiting.  Though, I always say I'd rather food go to waste than go to waist, ha ha!  No clean plate clubs at my house, but I do admit to putting kids' relatively untouched portions back into the pot...

Britain has the highest rate of wasted food in the world, a little surprisingly, and here's a British website that looks interesting: Love Food, Hate Waste

And finally, here's a really excellent and mildly entertaining article from the American perspective -- Leftovers: Tasty or Trash

Anyway, food for thought.

(*Hi, Mish, Tiff, and 'Becca!)