Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook: A Guide to Eating Well and Saving Money By Wasting Less Food

by Dana Gunders

Despite a growing awareness of food waste, many well-intentioned home cooks lack the tools to change their habits. This handbook packed with engaging checklists, simple recipes, practical strategies, and educational infographics is the ultimate tool for reducing food waste. From a scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council come these everyday techniques that call for minimal adjustments of habit, from shopping, portioning, and using a refrigerator properly to simple preservation methods including freezing, pickling, and cellaring. At once a good read and a go-to reference, this handy guide is chock-full of helpful facts and tips, including 20 "use-it-up" recipes and a substantial directory of common foods."

Genres: Nonfiction, Food, Cookbooks, Cooking, Environment, Reference, Sustainability

202 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 19, 2015

Reviews

[Kelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beginner’s guide to reducing food waste that includes generic information on meal planning, sticking to a shopping list, freezing food, composting, and food storage tips, among others. I’m not looking to use food before composting it (polishing shoes with banana peels) nor do I subscribe to feeding my dog table scraps to reduce waste (?!). By definition, this is not a riveting topic, but there is probably something to be learned for everyone. I was surprised/horrified by the information on portion size increases and I liked the information on how to store/freeze certain foods.

[Allie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I heard about this book on NPR (link), and it is totally amazing. Combined with the 99% invisible episode about best by dates (link) and the movie at last year's film festival about food waste (Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story), I've been spending a lot of time thinking about food waste (and waste in general). This handbook is a great starting place to help you store food better to minimize waste, what to do to revitalize something gone a bit bad, and some recipes for using foods you might otherwise throw away. The goal for me is zero waste, but realistically I don't think I'll ever get there. This is definitely a good start.

[Corey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did you know that sour milk is safe to use? Or that potatoes that have gone a little soft are fine, but once they've started sprouting shoots, they are toxic? Or the right way to stock your fridge so as to maximize the freshness of the food contained therein? I did not, until I read Waste Free Kitchen Handbook: A Guide to Eating Well and Saving Money by Wasting Less Food. At the time this book was published (2015), 40% of the food that was produced in the United States was being thrown away. That's a terrible, tragic number. That's, on average, $120 per month for a family of four, thrown away. That's greenhouse gas emissions (according to author Dana Gunders, it's equivalent to the emissions of 33 million passenger vehicles), fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, antibiotics, and hormones used - all for nothing. That's higher food prices through artificially inflated demand, which hurt all of us, but especially the most vulnerable. Look, I am a tree hugger, and the fact that my tiny little borough does not recycle has prompted me to look at other ways to be more environmentally conscious, including by cutting back on food waste, but I am not enough of an environmentalist that I bother with organic. I think the whole thing about GMOs has the same scientific basis as the antivax movement - that is to say, none. I even believe that, used VERY sparingly, herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, and fertilizers can actually be better for the environment by allowing for more intensive agriculture so we don't have to use as much water or cut down as many rainforests, plow under as many prairies, or convert as many wetlands to grow food (not antibiotics though, because I don't want to die of drug resistant salmonella, thankyouverymuch). But food waste? There's no good in food waste. No bright side. No other side of the coin. Plus, I am extremely frugal (my mother uses the word "miserly"), and money wasted in this manner makes me head-spinningly, green-pea-soup-hurlingly angry.
So, Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook is right up my alley. It has helpful recipes to help you figure out how to use up leftovers or food you don't know how to use up, as well as a forty page directory on storing common food items. I am a big believer in leftovers, mostly because I find cooking and dishwashing to be the least rewarding things I can do, so I skipped right over the section with the portion control guides. The section on food safety was very useful. This book also has motivated me to make two grocery trips per week instead of one: one big one to coupon and buy all the nonperishable stuff (or stuff that will last for a month in the fridge) and a second, smaller trip to buy shorter-lived ingredients, closer to when I will be using them.
One thing about this book that annoyed the crap out of me - the margins. Seriously, for a book dedicated to reducing waste, side margins of an inch, and top margins of two inches seem startlingly hypocritical, or at least just dumb. Maybe the added space is for margin notes? I have no idea. I didn't write any. But I did highlight and Post-It the crap out of this book.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent, practical guide about reducing food waste. I'm now on a mission to learn more about food waste. It's the next stage in my journey to learn about food.

This book is organized into little sections and has lots of tips and tricks about how to cut down on food waste in your kitchen.

(North Americans waste about 1/4 of the food they purchase. That's a huge waste of both money and food!!)

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm giving this five stars, but not for me. For you. For everyone who doesn't know about the food waste problem, or for those that know about it but don't know what to do. For the people who throw out hundreds of dollars of food every year, some that much in a month!

I'm a overly eager non food waster. I compost, but it takes me so long to fill my compost inside that it starts to rot, because I use so much of my scraps. In fact,, my 1 gallon compost bin is usually 90% coffee grounds. That's not to say I didn't learn anything, but it was more of a reinforcement than anything.

But the way it is written will appeal to all those types of people I mentioned. It's presented in a very approachable and readable way. There is meal planning, recipes, composting, gardening, even tips on things that can regrow on your windowsill from scraps. It's a great resource for people new to this problem.

[Ktmholm · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very useful book to have on hand. Some parts were already known to me, such as planning menus to use up leftovers and avoid wasting food. Others were new, such as which vegetables and fruits do better in high- or low-humidity produce drawers, and the fact that some refrigerators allow you to adjust the settings of each drawer. Other useful material includes which food scraps are safe (or unsafe) to feed your pets; the difference between "sell by", "use by" and "best by"; and composting, as well as a few recipes that are especially good for using leftovers. Most helpful, however, is the section on storing fruits, vegetables, meat, seafood, dairy products, condiments, and all types of pantry staples: where and how long to store for optimum freshness, including refrigeration and/or freezing, and how to use if the item starts to get old. Take a look at the book; if you like to eat, I guarantee you'll find at least something of interest here.

[Sherry Monger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think we are all looking for ways to be more efficient and less wasteful, and this book gives many ideas on how to achieve this. The author talks about planning better before grocery shopping since many of us end up having to clean out and throw away fresh items that did not get used in time. She also talks about "best before" dates and how to store items so that they have a greater shelf life. At the end are recipes designed to utilize such things as wilted lettuce, soft vegetables and dated yogurt.Not only do these strategies save money, but they also put less stress on landfill sites.

[Penny Ramirez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good collection of information - none of it was new to me, but it was nice to have it all in one place.

I struggle with food wastage, having been raised by Depression-era women. I hate to see how much I and my family throw away, and to read the stats on how much we waste as a nation is appalling. However, the methods outlined in this book will be difficult to enact, particularly for the fussy eaters in my family.

Perhaps if it were framed as a "how to survive the zombie apocalypse" method, I could sell it better!

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very basic book.
If you are new to cooking - or have been born yesterday in general - you may find tons of useful information here. Otherwise, it's full of well known facts and just some little bits of creative ideas or suggestions on how to use your scraps (you may love them, you may laught at them, but at least they are new).
So. It's ok. Nothing wrong with it. Just very basic.

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 4 out of 5]

As author Dana Gunder notes, Americans waste 50% more food today than they did in 1970 — and 10 times as much as an Asian family! Equal parts how-to guide and cookbook, Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook helps you save money by reduce kitchen waste and even waste higher up the supply chain. Saving money is great, but saving the planet is priceless.

[Little · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are a couple of big take-aways from this book. One is that the biggest way to avoid throwing food in the trash is to only buy the food you're going to eat. Gunders recommends a ruthless audit, making note of every piece of food pitched in the trash for two weeks, with explicit reasons why those food items got pitched. Not "it was too old," but "I didn't feel like eating it the night I was supposed to cook it." And based on the results of said audit, Gunders recommends either religiously meal planning at the time of your weekly shopping trip, or eschewing the weekly trip for shopping trip in favor of buying just what you want to eat today and tomorrow.

There's also a really long and fairly comprehensive index on how to store various items and how to use them up when they're a little past their prime.

Honestly, the audit is a good idea for most homes. The food storage stuff might be helpful for some people. But the other thoughts on making bits and bobs of food items into something delightful are better covered in An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace. So if you're going to read a book on reducing kitchen waste, that's the one I'd recommend.

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book isn't a bad resource, but it's not necessary if you're already pretty mindful about food waste, have a good all-purpose cookbook that includes suggestions for substitutions (like Bittman's How to Cook Everything), know how to cook, and are creative.

[Cassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and think it should be a staple in kitchens throughout America. It has lots of practical tips on how to reduce food waste. I personally would like to have it in my kitchen to refer back to when I am trying to store various foods or remember freezing tips for various foods. I highly recommend this book. It’s quite basic, so some parts i did just skim over. It includes recipes as well that help use classic ingredients that get wasted.

-about 40% of all food in the US does not get eaten… consumers are responsible for more waste than farmers, grocery stores, or any other part of the supply chain.

- there is no legal definition for the phrases “use buy” or “best buy” or phrases like that. The dates are not federally regulated either, and are decided by the manufacturer.

[Brianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook" has a lot of really solid tips on how to avoid throwing your food in the garbage. Some of the tips I was already familiar with (like saving your scraps to make your own veggie broth), but some of them were so clever, I was astounded that this isn't common practice in every home (like freezing your leftover pasta sauce or soup in muffin tins, so it's easier to grab however many servings you want from the freezer). Some tips were so obvious that I felt like a bonehead for not doing them more often. My only regret reading this book was that I had to return it to the library before I really got a chance to try out the recipes at the back.

[Lauren Salvato · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought the book had great information and visuals. I don't think I'm the right audience - I already compost and am very conscious about my food consumption. I hope it reaches those that could change their habits and make a larger lifestyle change.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the way this book asks you to look at how you are using food, storing food, and eating food and see how you can do it better. I've already rearranged the fridge and now have the book in the pantry so it is easy to reference when I need to check the best way to store something.

[Valerie Vlasenko · Rating 3 out of 5]

It turned out that thanks to lockdown I already knew most of the tips recommended in this book. Most of them are simply common sense. Yet if you are looking to upgrade your kitchen even more the book might be useful to peek into

[Ken Rideout · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not quite what I was hoping for. This book is more of a light intro - a mile wide and an inch deep on all things related to using your kitchen/purchasing your food wisely.

Maybe a good book for someone who is just starting to cook for themselves and wasn't raised in a conscientious household (conscientious about not wasting food and being frugal & creative with food I mean).

Having said that, I did pick up a few ideas and remembered there were a few things I want to go back to doing (like making hummus from scratch and infusing some vodka).

[Marc Buckley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Food waste is a huge problem today and this book shows you what you can do to minimize your food waste with great tips as well as recipes.
On Inside Ideas, I have a deep dive conversation with Dana about this book as well as Roadmaps to waste-free food systems. You find episode 96 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxuii...

or check out the links below:

https://www.innovatorsmag.com/no-appe...
https://www.innovatorsmag.com/inside-...
https://medium.com/inside-ideas/dana-...

[Rita · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 The idea is good, the execution left a lot to be desired. I felt like the book jumped all over the place; we'd have three sentences on one topic, then jump to something else. The best part was the directory, well- researched, which gave freshness, storage and freezing information individually for almost every food you could think of. The rest could have been better organized and much better fleshed out.

[Skunk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think that this book is more between a 3-4 star. I agree with some of the information that was in the book and some it was super helpful. One part that I didn't agree with was where it it said to cook less from scratch. I disagree, but the book was enjoyable as a whole.

[Judi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read about half of this book and realized that very little of this information is new to me. However, it still contains good and useful info and if this topic is new to you I would recommend it.

[Brittany Petruzzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. Truly helpful.

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super handy tips for how best to buy, store, preserve and prepare food to avoid spoilage and waste.

[NK92 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first saw this at the library, read some, and decided to buy it.

I love this book, as well as "My Zero Waste Kitchen" but after reading both I was a little confused, as they had some information in one that was contradictory to the other book. For composting, each book had different ratios (green to brown) & recommendations. I was left uncertain and "winging it." I will need to buy a book on composting to compensate. I will say though that although I initially did not love composting in the summer (SO HOT here!), I feel it is so much more sanitary and less stressful to have an open-heap compost bin that you turn occasionally than it is to have produce that gets moldy/bugs in your trash before it is even full enough to throw away (especially when the bag breaks)! The only bugs in my compost (with frozen produce*) were worms (I did not add them, they just wiggled in themselves from the yard).

Also, one of my favorite parts of this book (the specific reference for how to store food items) was sadly lacking. I wanted more information because I have purchased food not listed in the back, particularly produce. But for the produce listed, it is a wonderful reference. I whip it out all the time after a food shopping trip. It would be 5 stars if it was not for this and the confusing compost information I received collectively. I do love this book though!

I like both (this & "My Zero Waste Kitchen) books about the same, and you kind of get different things out of both. This one does not talk about plastics leaching into food, whereas My Zero Waste Kitchen does. Although both have recipes to reduce food waste & use up foods, My Zero Waste Kitchen is more adaptable to vegetarian/vegan/"Meatless Monday" dishes. My Zero Waste Kitchen is also very visual, less wordy than this. It has tons of pictures and may be better for children & visual learners. This one is more adult, with more charts & paragraphs.

I highly recommend this to anyone who does not like food waste, wants to save money, or be more environmentally conscious.

[Liz VanDerwerken · Rating 5 out of 5]

As if I haven’t evangelized this book enough... this is a practical and useful guide to home cooking with more efficiency and precision to best utilize your monetary and food resources to best effect. I’ve noticed some small but significant shifts in my habits with food shopping and preparing since reading this book and implementing its ideas. It was an approachable resource and I enjoyed reading it cover-to-cover, but it is also organized such that it is easy to reference a specific topic or section without having to read the entire book. I also loved the recipes section, which gave helpful tips and ideas for how to use up odds and ends in your fridge or pantry. I think everyone should read this book—our food habits have significant ecological impacts and implications and I think a better consciousness and awareness of what those are is essential to making positive change.

[Juli Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a number of books about reducing kitchen waste and this was by far the most thorough and practical one I've found. If you are looking for a cookbook full of trendy recipes for things like carrot-top pesto, you won't find them here. There are only a handful of practical "use-it-up" recipes and very few pictures. But there is so much useful information on cutting down food waste that I've never seen consolidated in one place before: things like what human foods are safe to feed to pets or poultry, how do determine whether an old/slimy/moldy food item is going to make you sick, and how to meal plan and shop with zero waste in mind. Even old hats at waste-free kitchen practices will discover some new ideas here.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing too surprising here for anyone who's been cooking for a long time, but useful for beginners.

One part I like was the emphasis on sane serving portions and the horrible little tidbit where when after 1996 The Joy of Cooking is said to have increased the serving portions by 1/3 along with other disturbing statistics. I've traveled enough to know that American serving sizes are huge.

Has info on composting and table scraps for pets, some basic use it up recipes along with some preserving info. There's enough reference material, so it's not just a one time read.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative book about trying to be more aware of your own food waste. I got it from the library, right after cleaning out my refrigerator and threw out way too much food. This book is helpful for people new to this idea and for those who want to go hard core. I liked the recipes at the end. The best I do to reduce waste is when we move and I am very conscious of the food I need to get rid of and not waste...I don't plan on moving any time soon, but that attitude may help a bit. The only complaint about this book is the ridiculously small print size! Quarter of the page is blank and then text is so small; seems ironicly wasteful.

[Rachel B · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great, thorough book for beginners - people who realize they're throwing away a lot of the food they buy and want to change, but don't know where to begin.

Gunders covers accurate meal planning, how to use leftovers, non-food uses for foods, how to keep foods fresh for longer, and more. There are 20 recipes here, most of them fairly basic in the use-it-up world, like soup, but a few looked good. (Also, the book isn't primarily a cookbook, so I'm not rating it on that alone.)

There is a bit of repetition that got old to me, since much of the information isn't new to me, but for beginners, this repetition might actually be helpful in reinforcing new ideas.