Keep Good Food From Going Bad #GLADFreshFoodChallenge
My family participated in the Glad Fresh Food Challenge which was a commitment to achieve ZERO food wasted over the first two weeks of October. This is a tough challenge for us as we often get a little over-excited in the produce section and end up throwing out rotting fruits and vegetables we just plain old forgot about. My husband also tends to cook a whole lot more than what we can physically eat and never seems to wrap our perishables properly before putting them in the fridge. Garbage night tends to be a little sickening as we clean out the fridge and realise just how much as gone to waste.
The sad thing is that we aren’t the only Canadian family who lives like this! Did you know that the typical Canadian Household wastes 13% of all food purchased, resulting in over $725 worth of food items wasted each year?
It’s time to change these statistics by looking closer at how we can eliminate our food waste by learning to be smart shoppers, by protecting our groceries and by using up leftovers in a timely fashion. Glad is here to help too with a wide array of high quality and functional products to help you keep your food fresh and out of the trash.
Plan Your Shopping Trip
Meal planning is a great way to minimize food waste and is an excellent way to cut down on your grocery bill simply by not purchasing unnecessary food. Even if you don’t have time to plan out your week like that it is a good idea to start with a simple shopping list featuring items that you think you will use in conjunction with that you already have. When you get to the store be sure to stick that list!
Store Food Properly
Previously I only ever wrapped perishables that had been cut and put fresh produce straight into the crisper drawers. I never thought to wrap up this stuff but it was one of the tips we were given and I was truly amazed with how much longer my fruit and vegetables lasted.
Using GLAD Storage Zipper Bags, Freezer Bags, Press ‘n Seal Wrap and ClingWrap we really tackled storing all our food properly – both fresh and leftovers.
For example, overripe bananas can be peeled, cut into chunks and frozen in a GLAD Zipper Freezer Bag for a sweet and satisfying smoothie or banana bread. The same can be done with berries. Wrapping fresh produce as soon as possible reduces moisture loss and extends the life of your fruits and veggies. Cheese goes mouldy fastest when touched or left open, so use Cling
Wrap to tightly wrap up your cheese so it stays fresh longer. Freezing steaks and chicken breasts individually with Press ‘n’ Seal – even if you buy in bulk – is the surest way to avoid freezer burn.
Get Creative with Leftovers
We don’t have a problem with using up leftovers. They either get eaten as is or I will often combine leftovers to create a new meal. Sometimes we will have a roasted chicken and rice for dinner and the next day I will use the leftovers with some fresh or frozen vegetables and a couple eggs to make chicken fried rice. If you get a little creative with your leftovers it is easy to minimize waste of already prepared food plus you can cut down on the expense of ordering out!
So how did we do? Pretty well aside from a 10 kg bag of beets that went bad before I could get around to pickling them. That all comes down to trusting my husband that the basement was indeed cool enough to store them. (Obviously our basement is far too warm for food storage.) I was pretty pleased with the state of our fridge though thanks to GLAD!
Now that the Challenge is complete I am happy to say that eliminating food waste is something on our minds when we set out to get new groceries and as we prepare food for our family. I am sure we will see significant savings this year because of it.
How do you eliminate food waste?
Wow! That is a really eye opening statistic about the cost of waste the average household has yearly.. I have to say I am also guilty of being over zealous in what I buy and not consuming it… With fresh veggies like peppers, if I buy a bag I try to cut a few up and toss them in to the freezer – they cook up well in dishes like stirfry and I still have some fresh for other purposes
I have used GLAD product for many years and have never been disappointed
I love Glad products they save me many dollars over the years
I will have to try this. We are so bad about wasting food in our house.
We use glad bags for allot of things.. school lunches, freezer foods.. etc.. etc.. etc..
I’ve always used Glad bag products and have never been disappointed! They are really good quality.
My mom loves the press and seal from Glad. I like their sandwich bags.
We have been using glad at my house for as long as I can remember! They are definitely a trustworthy brand!
Thank you for the great tips! Where I’m living in France, storage bags like this are not available… I can’t wait to have access to them when I return to the states!
Cheers!
JoAnna
foreverinparadise.net
We limit food waste by not buying more than we’re planning on using. We used to over-buy groceries, and a lot of it went bad before we had a chance to eat it.
I try to make sure everything is stored tightly and we eats leftovers as often as possible.
I love press and seal. It is probably my favorite product next to the scented glad trash bags. No one like smelly garbage.
I love glad wrap! I use it all the time!
I use Glad all the time. It’s the best!
Aside from food, I also use Glad to store my stuff as a waterproof protection when outdoors. It always works well.
Glad never disappointed me with their products. Great for food storage.
I eliminate food waste by throwing the directly in the bin. LOL! I guess it’s not a good idea at all because of the smell it produces.
We try to use our leftovers for a creative lunch or diner. I use Glad cling wrap to help keep my food fresh.
Glad bags are great. Competing brands don’t come close to comparing as far as I know.
$725 of food waste? Oh that just makes me ill. I am going to try harder to keep a handle on the food in the fridge. Our worst is salad items. Glad products sure would help.
I always buy Glad bags for everything. When you buy those cheap ones you end of spending more money because you buy double. They just don’t hold up as good as Glad.
I think getting creative with leftovers is a good idea. My husband won’t eat them as is two days in a row.
The Press n Seal is my favorite product from glad. We use it to cover any bowl that doesn’t have a cover.
I am always using a wrap to cover up our left overs. I can’t imagine if I didn’t have this to help preserve our food. Love it!
Love Glad products! They always keep everything so fresh!
I love glad products, always use them. I think my hardest waste is fruits and veggies. I never can get everyone to eat them before they spoil.
I love me some Glad products. I use the brand every day!
I’m sure this would eliminate all the grocery store runs. If I could buy bigger packages and not have to fear they will go bad before we eat them.
I was literally feeding Baby Mash a banana and thinking I wasting too many of them. I’m freezing some tonight. I can’t stand wasting food!
I’ll have to try this. I don’t like wasting food but sometimes we overdo it with the produce as well.
Love Glad bags, they’re the best! They have fun commercials too 🙂
Always enjoy these products! Do they even make other products that do this? lol
I buy in bulk and freeze.
I have been using the press and seal wrap for awhile now. My MIL loves it and got me hooked. It is fantastic!
It’s a running joke in my family that I freeze everything, but it’s so true. That’s pretty much how I stop things from going bad!
Great tips for keeping your food from going bad. I hate to have to throw things away and waste.
Glad bags are really amazing, I use them all of the time and they do keep foods very fresh.
I eliminate food waste by eating leftovers.
I LOVE the no-waste challenge! Thanks to you and GLAD for raising awareness! We try very hard to keep our waste to a very minimum, and our worm composting gets anything that slips through the cracks – it took some time to practice!
This saves so much stuff in my house. We hate wasting food and preserve leftovers as much as possible.
Love love love glad products! It is so true that knowing how to store foods, both cooked and uncooked, can save so much money!
I love good storage and Glad is my favorite brand!
I love Glad Press n Seal. I try to eliminate food waste by not buying too much produce at one time. I do a really big shopping and then go back a few times just for fresh things.
Its scary to think of all the waste when so many are hungry
I have saved many dollars using Glad
We try to have as little food waste as possible. We have rabbits so everything fruit or veg that could be tossed goes to them and they do not waste anything. Bread products always get tossed in the back for the squirrels and birds.
I’m pretty good at meal planning so as to not waste much in terms of produce, and I sometimes freeze leftovers if I anticipate that they won’t get eaten in the next few days.
Glad always got a home in my pantry