Share Your Leftovers

When Ron was out of town, I noticed how quickly leftovers piled up in our refrigerator. It got me thinking about one- or two-person households and why people sometimes choose not to cook many meals or try new recipes. Though you can reduce a recipe, you can still end up with leftovers galore.

Some recipes you can freeze perhaps, but others you don't want to be eating for days on end. And you really don't want to pull them from the back of your fridge, covered with mold, after a few weeks. Then I thought... how about a Food Share?

We have time shares, job shares, why not a Food Share? You can so easily do this on a small scale. Have a family member close by? A like-minded coworker or someone in your church? Connect with someone and take them your leftovers after making a big batch of soup. And they'll do the same for you when they cook their beloved Indian dish. Win. Win. No food waste, you're not eating the same meal for days and there's at least one night you don't have to cook! Be sure to use re-usable storage containers; we don't want to create another type of waste.

Food waste is a huge problem in our country; a food share can be just another way to limit your waste while eating healthy and helping others. If you can't find someone to Food Share with you, perhaps you know a single parent, elderly person or someone facing challenges in your community... share your leftover lasagna with him or her! Your home may be like ours and leftovers get eaten quickly, but I think we all have times when there is extra food (think parties and holidays).

Does anyone do this already? Let me know how it works and how you got started.


Action Item: Find a Food Share friend today!

For Further Reading: Reducing Food Waste Basics and Share Your Meal (this website looks like a similar idea, but on a larger scale).