StopWaste
Why Worry About Wasted Food?
Why worry about wasted food? Because it’s a pressing issue that affects not only our wallets but also our environment and society as a whole. In the United States, the scale of food waste is staggering, with significant consequences for people, the planet, and the economy. Reducing food waste at home is an essential step…
Read MoreThe Power of Food
Chef Sarah Germany shows how food heals bodies and communities By StopFoodWaste.org When Sarah Germany was 20, she attended 13 funerals in 11 months—all family members and friends lost prematurely to health issues related to diet and lifestyle. Struggling with weight herself, she looked at the buckets of fried chicken, sugary desserts, and sodas…
Read MoreCooking Classes for Health and Budget, with a Side of Joy
“Getting people excited about making meals at home.” That’s a goal that would seem easy to reach with mouth-watering classes like “Flavors of Malaysia” or “Japanese Baking and Sweets” at the community cooking school run by 18 Reasons. But this San Francisco–based nonprofit also teaches students how to prepare wholesome, delicious food when budgets…
Read MoreClimate Action in Our Kitchens
Food Shift’s Kitchen Guide Shares Year-Round Cooking Wisdom “No one and nothing is left behind in the Food Shift kitchen,” says Jen Franco, culinary director of the Alameda-based nonprofit Food Shift. The Kitchen is home to a culinary training program to transform surplus food—produce that would otherwise go to waste. The students, overcoming employment…
Read MoreFood Connects Us All
Caring for food and each other, one bite at a time Food may offer up a bright spot during the pandemic as we share home-cooked meals, try out new recipes, or splurge on takeout from a local restaurant, but there are many in our communities who can’t afford even the most basic meals.…
Read MoreLearn to Prevent Household Food Waste and Reduce Your Climate Impact
Special guest Chef Alison of Ends and Stems leads a cooking demo on ways to make the most of your food while minimizing your climate impact. You’ll also learn how to join the Alameda County Climate Challenge to share the actions you’re taking to mitigate climate change from your home. This demo and conversation, hosted…
Read MoreGrants up to $20K Now Available
Apply by March 15 for StopWaste Grants StopWaste is offering grants with total funding up to $475K for projects that focus on preventing waste in Alameda County and supporting local communities in these categories: Reuse & Repair: Up to $20K per grant for projects that prevent disposal or recycling in favor of repair, reuse,…
Read MoreEast Bay Natural Grocers Win StopWaste Award
East Bay Natural Grocers Win StopWaste Business Efficiency Award Alameda Natural Grocery has been the go-to place for healthy, sustainable foods and other goods for almost two decades, and they recently expanded to Castro Valley, bringing the same “highest-use first” practices to the new location. Alameda & Castro Valley Natural Grocers is an…
Read MoreStopFoodWaste
Can a Carrot Cause Climate Change? As spring rounds the corner, Saneta and her daughter Alma look forward to getting their small vegetable garden in Oakland ready for the growing season. “We love tomatoes, beans, and lettuce. And of course, crunchy carrots. Those are Alma’s favorites,” says Saneta. She knows they’ll be extra tasty…
Read MoreMake 2020 the Year You Waste Less Food
New Year’s Resolutions Make 2020 the Year You Waste Less Food (while saving money and eating healthier meals) It’s a new year, and good intentions abound. Maybe yours are to shop less, cook more fresh meals instead of eating out, and tread more lightly on the Earth. Resolve to waste less food,…
Read MoreEdible DIY Gifts
Need last-minute holiday gifts that don’t break the bank, are personal, and will be appreciated? Try these DIY preserves and pickles made with seasonal fruit and veggies and presented in pretty glass jars you may already have. While small mason jars work well for these goodies, why not upcycle empty glass jars from other…
Read MoreKeep your Herbs Fresh
Just a few sprigs of fresh herbs can add amazing depth and flavor to a dish and boost nutritional value too! Parsley, basil, chives, mint, tarragon, cilantro, and dill all have high amounts of vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals. But even when recipes call for more than a garnish, the better part of most herb bunches…
Read MoreWhen Life Gives You Lemons
Lemonade is great, but there’s so much more you can do with a bumper crop of citrus, including just putting your fruit in the freezer for another day! That’s right, whole lemons freeze very well. By freezing home-grown citrus, you can use nearly every part of the fruit: grate the peel over yogurt, salads,…
Read MorePower Moms Fight Food Waste
Stop Food Waste Two Power Moms Take the Challenge Xouhoa Bowen and Christina Means have a few things in common: Both are activists working to empower women, are raising young children, and don’t like wasting food. Last fall, the two joined StopWaste’s “Food Waste Challenge,” measuring how much food was going to waste in…
Read MoreSpark Joy in Your Fridge
Organizing guru Marie Kondo is bringing mindfulness to cluttered closets around the world, but we have yet to see her tackle a refrigerator. It’s not for lack of opportunity—a fridge shelf packed with foods in various stages of freshness isn’t all that different from the messy closet drawers Kondo loves to purge, and her…
Read MoreMake 2019 the Year You Don’t Let Food Go to Waste
“If you haven’t chosen a New Year’s resolution yet, I recommend a commitment to waste less food,” says Xouhoa Bowen, founder of Community Impact Lab in San Leandro. Like most of us, Xouhoa found herself frequently throwing out food that had spoiled—until she took the Stop Food Waste Challenge to find out how much of her…
Read MoreHow to Donate Food from Catered Events
At this time of year, holiday festivities abound—and with them an abundance of food, sometimes more than guests can eat. If you’re hosting a catered event at home or work, plan ahead for the donation of any trays of extra food with these tips from StopFoodWaste.org. At least a few days before the event,…
Read MoreCarrot Top Salsa Verde with Roasted Root Vegetables
Perfect for a winter day, this side dish pairs starchy roasted root veggies with a savory fresh herb sauce made from the carrot tops, adding a new dimension of flavor and making use of the whole vegetable. Salsa Verde 3 tablespoons capers, drained 2 whole cloves garlic, peeled 5 anchovy fillets (optional) Tops…
Read MorePortion Planning Made Easy
When family and friends roll in for the big Thanksgiving dinner, it’s sometimes hard to gauge how much food you’ll need to keep your guests full and happy. That’s where the handy Guest-imator comes in, developed by Save The Food. Plug in the number of eaters you expect, make some menu choices, and voila! There’s your…
Read MoreCooking with Gratitude
Cherishing What We Have and Wasting Less Around the world, feasts of gratitude for a good harvest are among the oldest traditions, marked by a rest from working the fields and plentiful meals. An abundance of food is at the center of our Thanksgiving celebrations as well, yet few of us have a deep connection…
Read MoreFood-saving Tips from StopWaste
It’s Summer Salad Season Keep Your Lettuce Crisp and Delicious What’s better on a warm summer day than a big bowl of crunchy, fresh salad? This time of year, Bay Area farmers’ markets are brimming with many varieties of lettuce, much of it grown in nearby Salinas Valley, dubbed “America’s Salad Bowl” for obvious reasons.…
Read MorePotatoes and Onions: Keep them fresh—or make latkes
In the fourth installment of our newsletter series on delicious ways to use foods and keep them fresh longer, StopWaste shows us how to cook with and store potatoes and onions. You’ll also find holiday meal tips and a recipe from StopWaste in our Winter Holidays issue. Back in the day, many households had root cellars…
Read MoreDon’t Waste those Flavorful Fresh Herbs!
Learn how to keep both hardy and tender herbs on hand with these tips from StopWaste as they offer the third installment of our newsletter series about delicious ways to use foods and store them right to keep them fresh longer. You’ll also find food storage tips and a recipe from StopWaste in our Fall issue. Many…
Read MoreTomatoes and Basil: Keep them tasty!
This is the second in our newsletter series from StopWaste about delicious ways to use foods that might otherwise end up in the compost. You’ll also find food storage tips and a recipe from StopWaste in our Fall issue. Tomatoes and basil are a happy couple. Raw or cooked, basil uniquely complements the sweet-tangy flavor…
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