Personal food waste solutions

[Geila]

I've been stopping myself from food shopping until there's nothing left to make a meal with. So far it's working well; I'm more creative and relaxed about food and things just seem simpler. Nothing to eat in the fridge? Rummage around and shout with joy when I discover a can of tuna in the cupboard! Proceed to rummage in the fridge until enough odds and ends veggies create a salad or sandwich with the tuna. In the past I would head to the store and buy a bunch of food and end up tossing the old veggies and the tuna with sit there for months. I feel so virtuous now.

Catherine - have you found anything that helps?

[frugal-one]

Geila.... You are braver than I. I have been keeping my larder fully stocked. Word is we are headed for the next round .... Also, winter is coming and don't want to be stranded with no food.

[Jane v2.0]

I'm stocking up for winter. I have a folding pantry shelf that I'm going to unpack and deploy, but meanwhile I have jars and cans and sacks of rice and beans sitting around--definitely a food hoarder vibe here.

[iris lilies]

I’m not gonna do stocking up for Covid related reasons. What kind of changes did we really encounter last time? Oh my gosh I couldn’t get the variety of bread I want! Not earth shattering. I’m sure there were other shortages that I can’t remember, but it was nothing serious.

[frugal-one]

Hope that works for you IL. We did not have the fires and floods we have had recently. Borders were not closed at the time, so harvest could be picked. just saying....

[Teacher Terry]

I am with IL. I never went without anything. No big deal if a few items had limits.

[catherine]

Yeah, I'm with Geila and IL and TT. I'm not overly concerned with stocking up. In fact, that seems to be a hinderance for me. We leave for 3 months in the winter and we found that even canned goods were ruined by the freeze. So the fall is when we plan to be lean and mean and eat what we have, and give the rest to my son.

As for other tips: I think I'm going with keep things you want to eat on the top shelf. Freeze lemons and limes. Plan better. Buy more buttermilk.

. Thanks everyone!

[ApatheticNoMore]

The shortages we encountered last time is that fancier foods like meats and produce were readily available but legumes and rice and the like not. So a very strange kind of non-sacrifice that turned out to be, well I'll just have to eat meat and fresh produce - life is such hardship! I worried so many days about TP though (which was so pathetic really how much mental bandwidth it took) that I could really see stocking up on that! Maybe paper towels as well.

Planning yes possibly, eating only the odds and ends left around like a can of tuna, couldn't do it.

[Yppej]

I've been stopping myself from food shopping until there's nothing left to make a meal with. So far it's working well; I'm more creative and relaxed about food and things just seem simpler. Nothing to eat in the fridge? Rummage around and shout with joy when I discover a can of tuna in the cupboard! Proceed to rummage in the fridge until enough odds and ends veggies create a salad or sandwich with the tuna. In the past I would head to the store and buy a bunch of food and end up tossing the old veggies and the tuna with sit there for months. I feel so virtuous now.

Catherine - have you found anything that helps?

I've been doing this, but not by design. I sprained my foot and DS could not find all the foods on my list. So I am eating what I do have and coming up with some unusual combinations like olives dipped in sour cream.

[catherine]

I worried so many days about TP though (which was so pathetic really how much mental bandwidth it took) that I could really see stocking up on that!

I highly recommend Who Gives A Crap. In fact, I just got a shipment. If you experience a shortage, PM me.