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Her.meneutics is edited by associate editor Katelyn Beaty and online editor Sarah Pulliam Bailey.

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November 24, 2010

Happy Wastegiving?

Tips for celebrating abundance tomorrow without creating unnecessary waste.

Hannah Faith Notess, guest blogger

A few years ago, my husband and I were waiting for our dinner to arrive in a Thai restaurant, when a movement at the next table caught my eye. An older couple was finishing up their meal. The man was settling the check, and the woman was fishing two plastic containers out of her purse. She shoveled their leftovers into the containers, wrapped them in a reused plastic bag (also from her purse), and proudly carted her DIY doggy bag out of the restaurant.

I felt embarrassed for them. Who could be so penurious as to bring their own doggy bag to the restaurant? Couldn’t they just enjoy the meal? Was it really so wasteful to use a restaurant’s takeout boxes for your leftovers?

tupperware.jpg

“Let’s not ever become those people,” I told my husband.

Of course, the scene wouldn’t have bothered me save that I could easily see us becoming that couple. We were both raised in Christian families by parents who taught us the values of thrift and stewardship that we gratefully practice to this day. Another way of putting this: There are jokes about people of both our ethnic backgrounds being cheap.

I married a wonderful man who will put even two spoonfuls of leftover macaroni and cheese in a tiny container in the fridge. That container will then, sometimes, migrate to the back of the fridge and begin sprouting colorful mold flowers. This is not all bad. For one thing, a full refrigerator uses energy more efficiently than an empty one. But it shows how, despite best thrifty intentions, food waste happens.

Americans waste more than 40 percent of the food we produce, according to American Wasteland, a new book by journalist Jonathan Bloom. When one in seven households suffer from food insecurity — meaning you don’t know where your next meal is coming from — this wastage is more than something your Great Depression-surviving grandma would tsk-tsk about. It’s bad stewardship.

The reasons for waste are complicated, spanning from our vast farmland to my tiny container of moldy mac-and-cheese, and Bloom’s book and blog dive into those reasons. They also offer suggestions of how we can reduce that waste (maybe you don't need to peel that carrot) with a refreshing lack of guilt and shame, celebrating creative thriftiness in a ways that would do the Proverbs 31 woman proud.

2010_11_03-bloom.jpg

Since it’s not exactly the easiest time of year to start a compost pile or go dumpster diving, here are a few novice suggestions as you prepare to celebrate and give thanks for God’s abundance this Thanksgiving.

1. Pick up a few extra freezer storage containers at the store. If you’re anything like me, you’ve lost a few due to accidental microwave casualties — now’s a good time to restock. (Or if you’ve got too many, wash out the ones that have been gathering dust.)

2. Clear out some space in the freezer and fridge. Those frost-bitten green beans from months ago can go in your green bean casserole. That weird-tasting jam from your neighbor three Christmases ago? It can go in the compost. Check out Still Tasty to see how long your food has stayed good.

3. Once you’ve carved the turkey, throw the carcass along with the veggie scraps lying around your messy Thanksgiving kitchen (okay maybe that’s just me) into a big pot of water. Simmer it while you watch football, or play football in the backyard, or whatever it is you do after eating, and you have yourself some stock, which is useful in, like, every recipe ever (if you have a good stock recipe, share it below!).

4. Consider giving to efforts to advocate for better food stewardship. I like Bread for the World, a Christian organization that helps churches act to end hunger in the U.S. and around the world. But you may have a different organization (share suggestions below) or you may want to give to your local food bank.

You're probably doing all this and more. You might even be the lady who proudly brings her own Tupperware to a restaurant. If so, I salute you. I haven't become that lady just yet. But lately, I’ve been thinking she's someone I might aspire to be.

What do you do to practice good food stewardship? Share your ideas below — especially if they involve what I can do with the giant, aging stalk of celery in my fridge.



Hannah Faith Notess is the editor of Jesus Girls: True Tales of Growing Up Female and Evangelical, a collection of personal essays, and managing editor of Seattle Pacific University’s Response magazine. She is also a contributor to The Spirit of Food: 34 Writers on Fasting and Feasting Toward God, and has written for Her.meneutics about Eat Pray Love and Disney princesses.


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Posted by Katelyn Beaty on November 24, 2010 10:00 AM

Comments

America's gluttony and selfishness makes me cry. :(
great article!!!

Posted By: Victoria / Justice Pirate | November 24, 2010 10:48 AM

Posts like these remind me of how curiously condescending I felt towards my depression-era grandparents as a child. (Why save that aluminum foil? You're really going to re-use that hamhock?) And now there are so many things I wish my grandmother was around to teach me, like canning, freezing, and breadmaking. I've started trying to remember to save the water I boil for steaming veggies to add to the chicken stock or use in place of stock in nearly all our favorite recipes. (Oh, yes, and throw the celery in the pot with the stock.)

I regularly decide to stay away from the grocery store for a few days even though we could probably use some ____ (milk, bread, meat, etc.). Without this forced creativity for meals I tend to stock up an embarrassing amount. I figure that we're eating more food than we really need to, and better food than most people in the world. If we eat canned beans, cooked carrots, hard boiled eggs and frozen blueberries for dinner, that's still a healthy feast compared to what lots of people are having that day.

Posted By: Emily Varner | November 24, 2010 10:50 AM

I would never have ever thought to take my own containers to a restaurant but I actually really like that idea - I know I was pleased when I was visiting my mom for an early Thanksgiving and I noticed that the KFC there (if not everywhere, I don't know cause I don't eat KFC often) has started using re-usable containers for their to-go orders - a move that I think is great (my mother LOVES her red plastic-wear :))

I'm not a greenie by any stretch of the imagination (a lot of it is worshiping the environment instead of utilizing it the way God intended) - but I do believe in not being wasteful when practical and I'm only all too aware of how much trash I, myself, and me produce on a weekly basis.

I read a cool article on CT yesterday that indicated that some (several? many?) food pantries have started allowing the hungry to "shop" for their food - picking out what they'd actually use and they've found its actually cheaper and less food is wasted. I like that idea :)

Posted By: Leslie | November 24, 2010 11:00 AM

Hannah!

Thanks for the awesome resources in this article. I'm stoked to put all your links to use.

Lately, I've been frustrated by the amount of leftovers we don't consume before they go bad, so I'm trying to be better about freezing half the leftovers, because often, I just get tired of more leftover chili. If I can put it away and wait a few weeks, it ends up being a blessing later. I totally agree with Emily (above) too that avoiding the grocery store for a few extra days to pull some creative meals out of the leftovers and cabinetry is a great plan!

We also decided we were just wasting too much, so we tightened up our food budget and went to a cash envelope system for groceries and eating out. It's forced us to pay more attention to our leftovers and use the weird stuff in our cabinets. We realized that even though we could afford to buy more food, it didn't mean we should.

Posted By: Heather | November 24, 2010 1:17 PM

Good article. I enjoy CT's articles regarding sustainability and environmental stewardship. What I don't understand is all the negative comments these articles seem to generate and why Christians equate concern about the environment with liberalism or "worshiping the environment." Granted worshiping the environment may motivate some people, but conservation and stewardship are scientifically and theologically defensible. I see environmental stewardship as loving your neighbor because a cleaner environment is better for all.

Posted By: Nancy | November 24, 2010 1:26 PM

Ditto Hannah.

Posted By: Mendy | November 24, 2010 8:49 PM

Sorry, meant ditto Nancy! And while I'm back I'll say nothing is nicer than seeing take-out food in a compostable or recyclable container. Even though they're often cheaper, how can anyone (any business)continue using styrofoam and other plastics that sit in landfills for generations? I'm not for wasting anything, particularly food, but at LEAST it biodegrades. Plastics? Not so much.

Posted By: Mendy | November 24, 2010 8:55 PM

i usually get a day in a week and eat all the leftovers in the fridge. "the no cook day", which i call eating from the fridge helps a lot to clean up the fridge but to also save both the money and the environment (wasting).

Posted By: faith Mutagubya | November 25, 2010 12:40 AM

Thanks for this post, Hannah! This sounds like a book I need to read.

Your idea for stock was a great one, and since you asked for stock recipes, here's mine (and it's especially frugal, because I save veggie scraps in the freezer for just this purpose):

http://mosaicsynapse.blogspot.com/2009/12/stocks-still-good-investment.html

Posted By: Pam | November 25, 2010 12:35 PM

I am never able to reconcile comments like this author made with the actuality of christianity. "let's never become those people". .????

What appalling pride.

Maybe they know styrofoam never breaks down in the environment and is hazardous to wildlife? Maybe one has been long term unemployed and they are suffering effects of the economy?

Uninformed judgment like this wrapped in such blasphemous arrogance is why the world would rather go to hell than become a "Christian".

I was hoping this magazine could offer some alternative to worldly news, but if this is all you've got for fruit you are only fooling yourself, the limbs are empty.

Posted By: Starling | November 28, 2010 6:28 PM

@Nancy - I just *love* it when people say all sorts of things like you did and hide it behind "some people say this..." when I was the *only* one who said anything about "worshipping the environment" - if you are going to criticize something someone says, do it to their face. Err...well at least use the person's name! LOL

In case you didn't notice- I was applauding the author and the elderly couple's ingenuity! And yes, SOME SOME SOME SOME SOME greenies do worship the environment - and no I didn't say anything about liberalism. A lot of the "Green" movement was started by Wiccans - who (in very simplistic terms) do worship the environment (again, in simplistic terms) they believe that all is god - therefore (again in simplistic terms) hurting the environment is hurting god. Which as Christians know God created the environment and He gave it to us to sustain our fleshly lives and made us responsible for it.

Your response reminds me of conversations I keep having with Christians. I say "I don't drink alcohol" and then get blasted, condemned and told horrible things because the Bible says its ok to drink alcohol. The funny thing is I never said "Alcohol is evil" I said that I don't drink it... they never give me a chance to explain that I don't drink alcohol because I have a family history of alcoholism and I just don't want to take the chance.....that I have no problem if people want to drink a glass of wine with their dinner.

Posted By: Leslie | November 29, 2010 8:58 AM

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