This Holiday Season, Reduce Your Food Waste and Get Involved!

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Food waste significantly increases from November to New Year’s. Why? Our Johnson County community celebrates a diversity of holidays during this time of year, and one thing most of them have in common is…food! While feasts and large meal preparations can run the risk of producing food waste, they also present an opportunity to be proactive and creative in our approach to food in an effort to reduce waste. As food wasted has immense social, economic, and climatic impacts, choosing to reduce food waste is a great way to have a positive impact on your local community. Read on to learn about how you can reduce your holiday food waste, and some bonus content on how you can help increase food access for your neighbors who may not have enough to eat when the holidays roll around.

Before Holiday Gatherings

  • Before you head to the grocery store to purchase food for holiday meal prep…
      • Shop your kitchen. Inventory which food items you already have in the refrigerator and pantry to avoid buying duplicates.
      • Make a shopping list. What meals or dishes do you plan to make? How many guests do you plan to host? Asking these questions helps to identify types and quantities of ingredients you will need. Making a list for holiday meal shopping keeps you on track at the grocery store and lessens the chance of overbuying. Plus, it may reduce stress during a busy shopping season.
        • Looking for list-making resources? Check out the many available grocery list phone apps, such as AnyList, Mealime, or OurGroceries. 
      • Eat a snack or meal. It is important to avoid grocery shopping when hungry as you are more susceptible to impulse purchases and overbuying.
  • Once at the grocery store…
    • Think realistically about items on sale, such as “10 for $5”. It may seem like a tempting deal, but will you actually be able to consume ten? If not, you could end up with food waste, which results in money wasted.
    • Control quantity. To have better control of quantity when purchasing produce items, opt for unpackaged fresh fruits and vegetables. (Added climate benefit: you reduce packaging, too!)

During Holiday Gatherings

  • Share leftovers.
    • Having guests over for a big meal? Send them home with leftovers packed in to-go containers. 
      • Reuse tip: Save up empty and clean plastic containers to pack leftovers (such as cottage cheese tubs, deli meat containers, or take-out containers). 

After Holiday Gatherings

  • Use up leftover ingredients.
      • Four recipe types that help to use up leftover ingredients are soups, sauces, casseroles, and smoothies! These categories allow for a lot of flexibility in terms of ingredients, which is great when we don’t always know what we might have leftover.
      • Find recipes based on your available ingredients at home with Supercook or Big Oven.
  • Freeze, freeze, freeze!
    • Not going to eat it right away? Freeze food to preserve freshness. 
  • Keep an eye on the refrigerator.
    • It can be easy for a container of strawberries or carton of milk to get unintentionally pushed to the back of the refrigerator and forgotten about. On a weekly basis, reorganize your refrigerator and move items that need to be eaten soon to the front to ensure they get used up.
  • Compost the unavoidable food waste items. We will always have turkey bones, eggshells, coffee grounds and other types of food that we do not traditionally eat. Handle these materials in an environmentally-friendly way with composting. 
    • Compost at the curb: If you live in a single-family home up to a 4-plex residential building, you receive curbside composting for food and yard waste. Learn more: www.icgov.org/curbside 
    • Compost at the Landfill’s Compost Facility: Service area residents that do not have access to curbside composting can take food waste and other organic materials directly to the Iowa City Landfill’s Compost Facility. Learn more: www.icgov.org/landfill

Everyone deserves to eat, and the holidays can be the hardest time of year for folks who are food insecure. Consider donating good food to those in need this holiday season. 

  • Food Donation FAQ:
    • Can I donate something if it’s past the best by/use by/ sell by date printed on it?
      • Yes, items past their ‘best by’ or ‘sell by’ dates are accepted, provided they are not more than one year expired and show no signs of spoilage.
    • Can I donate an opened box of granola bars?
      • Yes, if a box of food items is opened but the items are all individually wrapped, labelled, and list the ingredients on them then you can still donate them.
    • What non-food items can I donate?
      • Certain non-food items are some of the most requested items at pantries such as diapers, toilet paper, pet food, laundry detergent, and personal hygiene products as these are often the most expensive in stores.
    • What sorts of things cannot be accepted at the pantries?
      • Baby food or formula past “best by” date
      • Cans with sharp dents or rust that cannot be easily removed
      • Unlabeled food
      • Homemade food items
      • Meat from home freezer
      • Non-consumable items like clothing, furniture, etc.
        • An exception to this is North Liberty Pantry, they accept clothing donations
    • Can I start a food drive at my work/neighborhood/class, etc.?
      • Yes! Email info@table2table.org to coordinate a food drive benefitting Table to Table.