By Karen Melton, Southeastern Pennsylvania Group
“When we squander food, we don’t just waste the food itself; we misuse all the resources that went into producing it: the labor, the water, and the energy it took to grow and transport it, as well as the land, which we clear of carbon-sequestering trees to grow food that no one will eat.”
Cookbook writer, blogger and low waste educator Ann-Marie Bonneau is ardent about not wasting food and hopes to help the rest of us learn from her journey toward zero waste through her 2021 cookbook Zero Waste Chef. She recommends we each start by auditing our waste for a few weeks – your most common waste items will help you identify the products to focus on reducing or replacing, and if any of those products are food items, Ann-Marie has lots of suggestions. In a February 23rd blog she provided a variety of ways to make use of some of the most commonly wasted food items: strawberries, apples, bread, milk and potatoes.
Instead of thinking of something to make and buying the ingredients ‘Let the food you have on hand in your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer serve as the basis for your next dish.’
Bonneau spends the beginning chapters on the basics of zero waste -- or the least waste you can manage. There are details on many topics such as food storage and preservation, jars (including ‘de-labeling and de-smellifyinging’ them), fermentation, shopping strategies, and helpful tools and appliances. Although in discussing tools, she advises that, “The best way to reduce your waste is to reduce your consumption.”
In a section called “Choose to Reuse: Cooking Without Disposables,” we get suggested alternatives to plastic wrap, baggies, parchment paper, aluminum foil, paper towels and more. “Zero waste Is not a consumer lifestyle. It is a conserver lifestyle.”
Bonneau is seriously into fermentation – think fruits, vegetables, sauerkraut, kombucha and sour dough bread, and she provides extensive guidance on how to make fermentation a regular part of your cooking practice, while at the same time extending the shelf life of the fermented foods.
The remainder of the book is a cookbook, although many recipes are intended to be customized by using the scraps and leftovers you have on hand -- she encourages creativity rather than strictly following recipes. For example, the ‘One-Bean, One-Vegetable, One-Grain Salad with Lemon-Garlic Dressing’ recipe provides dozens of suggested variations for the beans, vegetables and grains you might use.
The recipes are organized in categories such as breakfast and breads, side dishes, main dishes, snacks and drinks, and desserts. Many of them include an endnote on how to use something that will be left over from this recipe to others. For example, if you started with dried black-eyed peas for the Black-eyed Pea and Mushroom Burgers, there are suggestions for using the leftover broth. If there are vegetables to prepare, suggestions for how to use scraps and peelings are provided.
If you’ve not begun to reduce waste in your kitchen, Zero Waste Chef will help you get a running start, and if you’re already a low waste practitioner, it will give you lots of ideas for taking food and associated waste reduction to the next level. It’s a fun as well as informative read. You can also get lots of helpful tips by subscribing to Bonneau’s blog.
This blog was included as part of the May 2022 Sylvanian newsletter. Please click here to check out more articles from this edition!