Preppin' 101: Food Conservation

Food costs have risen dramatically recently. The most disturbing fact is that the amount of wasted food has also skyrocketed to astronomical proportions. You can increase your long term food supplies by following a few simple steps that won’t cost you any money. This will be especially useful during tough economic times when saving money will be essential to the survival of you and your family. Eliminating wasteful habits and practices will allow you to conserve food supplies without additional cost.


In a University of Arizona Study it was found that Half the American Harvest Goes to Waste.

Here are a couple of excerpts from that study:

“TUCSON, Arizona, November 23, 2004 (ENS) - When University of Arizona anthropologist Dr. Timothy W. Jones sits down to his Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, he is not likely to put more on his plate than he can eat. Jones has spent the last 10 years measuring food loss, in the farms and orchards, warehouses, retail stores and dining rooms of America and he knows how much of the U.S. harvest goes to waste - nearly 50 percent.”

“They found that, on average, a family discards 1.28 pounds of food a day, about 470 pounds per household per year, or 14 percent of all food brought into the house.”

Simple Food Conservation Tips

1.) Check your expiration dates carefully. Don’t throw food away simply because you think it’s bad. Many people unknowingly throw good food away by failing to do this simple step.

2.) Don’t cook for an army if there are only two of you eating! Many leftovers get thrown out instead of being eaten simply because there was “too much” food left over from the original meal.

3.) Rotate! Rotate! Rotate! Always spend the necessary time to properly rotate your food stores. Don’t let it go bad sitting on the shelf.

4.) Don’t practice “new recipes” on family and friends. This can be a disastrous waste of food if your “new recipe” is a failure.

5.) Carefully plan your meals so as not to have excessive amounts of leftovers.

6.) Create and use a specific list of needed food items when shopping. Don’t purchase items that you may not need and ultimately may go to waste.

7.) Know the tastes of your meal time guests. A dish containing a specific herb or seasoning will go to waste if your family or guests don’t have a taste for it.

8.) Remember, TASTE DOES MATTER! Always try to prepare meals that not only are good for you but that taste good too. Sometimes simple fare is better than trying to be a gourmet cook, even though we all wish we could be the world’s best chef.

9.) Clearly label all leftovers with the date and contents.

10.) If you know you have too much in the way of leftovers to consume the next day or two – freeze it for later use!

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker