A few weeks ago at Trout Lake Farmers’ Market, Magellan and I bought $185! worth of tomatoes from Milan Djordjevich of Stoney Paradise Farm.
At that price, not a smidge was wasted. But while making tomato sauce from a recipe in Polpo, one of my favourite cookbooks, I see that the Italians have outdone me, again:
Tomato sauce will keep for up to a week. (In Italy it keeps longer—you simply scrape the mould off the top before using.)
Who would do that in Canada, now that my mom is gone?
Yet, there’s something rotten in the way we waste food.
According to research by the National Zero Waste Council, in 2022 on average each household in Canada tossed out 140 kilograms of food, $1,300 worth—more in today’s dollars. Countrywide, that’s 2.3 billion kilograms of wasted food, $20 billion worth dumped into landfills to-be or not-to-be composted. (Other sources cite even higher figures, an average of more than $1,700 annually per household.) And then there’s all the methane emissions from that rotting food…
Even without scraping the mould off tomato sauce, changing our habits could avoid 63% of food waste.
Love Food Hate Waste says that by weight, the most common food items thrown away in Canadian households are vegetables (30%, with lettuce taking the lead), snack food and desserts (20%), fruits (15%), leftovers (13%), bread and bakery products (9%), dairy and eggs (7%), and meat, fish and poultry (6%).
We all know how to reduce it.
Plan meals and shop with a list to help avoid overbuying and reduce impulsive purchases. Store food properly. Know the difference between “best before” and “use-by “dates. (Things like past-date milk works for pancakes. Yogurt and other fermented foods are safe to consume after best-before dates. Bottled salad dressings last more than six months after the best-before date.) Eat your leftovers. Freeze your leftovers to eat at a later date. Turn waning vegetables into a frittata, potato hash, baked pasta dish, stir fry, stew or curry. Cut off the mouldy bits from decaying fruit and make smoothies or compotes. Compost food waste. Donate usable food (like that gift tin of sardines or Costco box of mangoes) to food banks and community fridges.
And we know what to do about food waste when we’re travelling.
Order two appies instead of a large main. Share a main course. Stay in places where you can cook for yourself. Take leftovers to your bar fridge and eat them for breakfast or lunch or give them to a street person.
Now—for the best tip I’ve learned on reducing food waste.
It seems a shame to throw away the tops of radishes, carrots, beets and baby turnips, right? A pity to compost wilted lettuce, the most tossed (and I don’t mean with a vinaigrette) in the fridge. Not smart to discard spinach or kale fading from Popeye green to dull olive. Wasteful to throw out herbs like parsley and cilantro that are turning the colour of autumn leaves.
The answer? “Wilted Greens Soup”, a recipe in which you could use any/all the above greens. It appeared in The Globe and Mail. While I wish I could credit the author, I couldn’t find the original source. But Lynn did! Julie van Rosendaal.
Julie’s recipe offered lots of flexibility. Spinach or other wilted greens. Herbs were optional. Vegetable or chicken stock. Coconut milk or cream—optional, too. Thai green curry paste—optional, as well. Take it from me, I’ve made this many times and the recipe below is, we think, the tastiest option.
Wilted Greens Soup
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped, or a small bunch of green onions, chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1-2 tbsp Thai green curry paste, according to your taste
- 1 medium potato, finely chopped
- 3 cups wilted greens, chopped (lettuce, kale, spinach, radish tops, turnip greens, carrot tops…) Use more if you like; it will just make the soup thicker
- 1 handful green herbs, chopped (cilantro, basil, and/or mint are best in this recipe)
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 cup coconut milk + more for drizzling on top
- A splash of lemon juice to keep it bright
- 1/4 cup pea shoots, microgreens, green onions or toasted bread crumbs for garnishing
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, warm the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and a little salt and cook until they are soft, about 7 minutes, less time if you're using green onions.
- Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
- Add the curry paste, potato, greens, herbs and stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
- Stir in 1/2 cup of coconut milk.
- Emulsify with a hand-blender, or let the soup cool a bit and put it in your blender.
- Serve warm with swirls of coconut milk and the other garnishes you have chosen.
When I have only a handful of greens, maybe just radish tops, I cook them and store them in the freezer until I have enough greens to make a batch of this delicious soup.
While yesterday, September 28, was International Food and Waste Loss Day, every day is an occasion to think about the financial, nutritional and environmental repercussions of food waste, whether you’re rooted here at home in Canada or travelling abroad.
Navigation
Blair, Nicole. Food Waste Statistics in Canada.”Made in CA. June 11, 2024.
Nuwer, Rachel. “The simple Japanese method for a tidier and less wasteful fridge.” BBC, July 19, 2024.
Domingues, Josh. “Canada’s food-waste problem is out of control. Here’s how to break the cycle.” Maclean’s. October 10, 2023.
“5 facts about food waste and hunger”. World Food Programme. June 25, 2024.
Norman, Russell. Polpo. London: Bloomsbury, 2012. I LOVE this cookbook. Tomato sauce, meatballs of all sorts (like lamb and pistachios), pizza (the pork and pickled pepper is our fave), blood orange and Campari cake)….
van Rosendaal, Julie. “A beginner’s guide to a zero waste kitchen.” The Globe and Mail. April 5, 2023. You can also find Julie, a Calgarian, at Dinner with Julie and on Instagram, too.
6 Responses
Thank you for shining the spotlight on food waste. The volume of edible food waste is unconscionable given that 20% of the children in North America go hungry and miss a meal every day, and even more in the summer in the USA when the school lunches stop.
Hungry children, worse in summer in a wealthy country with abundant farmland, so much is wrong with this picture.
I tried with all my might…to think of a time when I have let a piece of pizza 🍕 go to waste 🤔🙄 Nope, not ever!!🫣🤣
I know, our bad. But a meatball/provolone/arugula sandwich and a mortadella/artichoke pizza for lunch at Nook was too much for jubilados our age, unlike young folk like you…
Well I have to admit, I always discard my veggie tops. Not sure about the soup, maybe give it a try. But they don’t go to the garbage, they do get composed, to be added to the garden. But
I do know we do waste way too much food. We are given tons of fresh tomatoes and veg from fellow gardening friends. I usually freeze them for larter use if they are getting too ripe. Thanks for sharing.
PS Happy birthday Mom!
Your mom, she was not one to waste food, time or opportunity. How old would she be today?