• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

No Food Left Behind – Corvallis

Prevent Wasted Food

  • About Us
  • Kitchen Confessions
  • Why It Matters
    • Facts and Impacts
    • What Is Wasted
    • What About Composting?
    • DEQ Food Fact Sheets
    • Videos: Why It Matters
  • What To Do
    • Recipes for Leftovers
    • Smart Strategies
    • Estrategias Sagaces
    • Apps
    • Budget-Minded Meal Plans
    • Challenge to Waste Less Food
    • DEQ Grant Final Reports
  • Videos
  • Contact
  • Español
  • About Us
  • Kitchen Confessions
  • Why It Matters
    • Facts and Impacts
    • What Is Wasted
    • What About Composting?
    • DEQ Food Fact Sheets
    • Videos: Why It Matters
  • What To Do
    • Recipes for Leftovers
    • Smart Strategies
    • Estrategias Sagaces
    • Apps
    • Budget-Minded Meal Plans
    • Challenge to Waste Less Food
    • DEQ Grant Final Reports
  • Videos
  • Contact
  • Español

NRDC

Preventing Wasted Food is a National Thing!

March 16, 2023 //  by K'Rene (Karen) Kos

Greetings, Conscientious Food Consumers!

Since 2018, we here at No Food Left Behind-Corvallis have been bringing you information and resources, which we hope have been enlightening & motivational, about the systemic, global problem of wasted food. Five years later, we’re happy to be a partner — for the second consecutive year — of National Food Waste Prevention Week, April 10th-16th, 2023.

(Temps don’t stay constant!)

There’ll be loads of resources and connections from all over the country, social media engagement on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, tips for wasting less at home, events, an art contest for K-12 students, webinars, and fun game show-style quizzes. There will also be more Spanish-language resources and materials! Keep checking back at their website for updates and happenings.

The goal of National Food Waste Prevention Week is “to educate and inspire real cultural change around food waste… to help families save money, reduce the negative impact of food waste on the environment, and address hunger in our communities.” Pretty ambitious — but the good news is there are hundreds of partners from every part of the country, representing every sector of the food system, signing on. Hooray! Preventing Wasted Food is a National Thing!

Oregon is one of the top three states with 38 participating agencies and organizations so far, thanks to our colleagues at the state’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Materials Management division, which is a principal organizing partner for this national event. DEQ also lends its unique “Bad Apple” campaign characters (like the broccoli figure) to the national effort. Maybe you’ve picked up one of these stickers at our Farmers’ Market table!

We would be remiss if we neglected to mention the fact that DEQ grant funding jump-started NFLB five years ago. We are proud to be one of DEQ’s partners in its statewide campaign to reduce wasted food.

How You Can Participate in National Food Waste Prevention Week:

  • TAKE THE PLEDGE to use good habits to reduce food waste at home and work, be accountable, and share your knowledge with others! Then post your commitment on social media (if you so choose).
  • TAKE A QUIZ: Are you as savvy as a 5th Grader? Daily fun facts and tips. (Maybe you ARE a fifth grader!)
  • Encourage your child to enter the STUDENT ART CONTEST. This year’s theme: “How Does Reducing Our Food Waste Protect Our Planet?” Check out last year’s winners!
  • Learn something or make a new connection in a WEBINAR. The offerings range from general interest to geeky. Many will be state- or regionally-specific.
  • FOLLOW National Food Waste Prevention Week on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for fun facts and tips before, during and after the week!
  • TRACK YOUR FOOD HABITS FOR A WEEK using NFLB’s “Wasted Food Discovery Week” form (also available in Spanish). Browse our Recipes for Leftovers, or download one or more of our other Smart Strategies to help you change those behaviors and save money!
  • SEE FUN EDUCATIONAL VIDEOS in English and Spanish from NFLB’s own “Magic Mama” Kjersten Hallin. This spring, Kjersten will once again be presenting these, along with movement, music and curriculum-enhancing activities in Corvallis schools. Contact us to request a visit to your child’s classroom!

EVERY WEEK CAN BE WASTED FOOD PREVENTION WEEK!

Many of you, during our regular encounters at the Corvallis Farmers’ Markets, have mentioned your concerns about the entire spectrum of food waste, from unharvested produce at field and farm, to the full dumpsters behind a big box grocer or retailer, to the garbage receptacles at restaurants, in school lunchrooms, at sporting events and festivals.

We’re happy to report that the problem is now being addressed in nearly every state and in many municipalities, through governmental programs and public-private partnerships across all sectors of our food systems. Sophisticated, data-driven initiatives from non-profit and non-governmental research organizations like ReFED, Project Drawdown, and the NRDC have created resources and conceptual groundwork for systemic change by 2030.

But it still comes down to each one of us, in our own households, to make the biggest difference. It’s now well established that most food waste happens IN THE HOME, and that reducing food waste is the #1 personal action we can take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions driving the global climate crisis.

National Food Waste Prevention Week happens each April, just like Earth Day. Shouldn’t EVERY DAY be Earth Day? Let’s make EVERY WEEK Food Waste Prevention Week!

Congratulations, Conscientious Food Consumers (and everyone who’s working on it). You are part of a nationwide, even international, movement!

Category: Kitchen ConfessionsTag: Bad Apple campaign, DIY Wasted Food Discovery, Don't Let Good Food Go Bad, Earth Day, Eco-EduTainment, Food waste prevention week, NRDC, Oregon DEQ, Project Drawdown, Recipes for Leftovers, ReFED, smart strategies, Smart Strategy, Student Art Contest

Check before you chuck it

October 8, 2020 //  by K'Rene (Karen) Kos

Greetings, Conscientious Food Consumers!

As we hurtle toward the holidays and the dark days of winter, so many are planning ahead, stocking up and proactively preserving, packing and pickling (as covered in our last posting of “Kitchen Confessions”). Be sure to give yourself a pat on the back for these efforts to not waste food and make the most of your household’s groceries!

So what happens when you head to your fridge, reach for an opened carton of something, a container of leftovers, or that half-eaten something — and find it’s in the last phases of its consume-ability? What if that item that got pushed back on your “Eat First!” shelf/area now looks kind of shriveled, spotty, wrinkled, a tad moldy, or smells a bit “funky”?

What happens when you encounter — omg! — a food package or container with a label informing you that its “best by,” “use by” or “sell by” date occurred last month?? (Three months ago? Or more… That’s happened, for sure, in my home!)

Take a deep breath, Conscientious Food Consumer. Many of those food items do not have to be left behind. The following resources and tips hopefully will inform and reassure you in your efforts to save even more food from going to waste while saving money too!

Food safety is a vast topic, and there is an equally-vast array of resources devoted to it, including food safety apps, books, websites, governmental agencies, advocacy groups and food industry organizations. Regulations for food date labeling also vary from state to state.

As usual, we refer you to the knowledge base at the OSU Extension Service’s Home Food Safety and Preservation program and in particular its publication on food label dates (2013). We also drew from this very informative web page by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) while researching this blog posting.

About those “Best by/Use by/Sell by” dates

As advised on page 4 of our A-Z Fruit and Vegetable Storage Guide: “a product should be safe, wholesome and of good quality if stored and handled properly.” This is a particularly relevant concern if you’re stretching your food budget by shopping discount shelves or at markets that offer popular brands and other products for significant price markdown due to their impending “Best by” or “Sell by” dates.

Prior to 2018, these dates — and terms such as “Best by” or “Use by” — referred primarily to a manufacturer’s claims for how long the product could be considered at its best for flavor, texture, odor and nutritional value (except for infant formula and some baby food labeling requirements from the federal government). The “Sell By” date helps retailers manage their inventories.

Fortunately for consumers, simplified and more uniform guidelines for food date labeling were adopted industry-wide in 2018 by the Food Marketing Institute and the Grocery Manufacturers Association. They specify that:

  • “Best if used by” refers to a product’s quality; it may not taste or perform as expected after the date, but it is considered safe to use or consume.
  • “Use by” applies to products that are highly perishable, thus involving food safety concerns. Such products should be consumed by the date shown on the package or discarded.

Cases in point: Our cornbread mix pictured above… and I’m still using up a jar of Thai curry paste labeled for 2018!

Check it before you chuck it. Ask your nose: does it pass the smell test? Then apply common sense and trustworthy guidelines like these from “Your Ultimate Shelf Life Guide” at StillTasty.com. It provides comprehensive advice on how long your favorite food or beverage will stay safe, with a searchable database of thousands of food items in every food category.

SMELL TEST: Merely “funky” smelling or looking
(some degradation in quality but not yet a “science experiment”)

  • This is your signal to ACT before it ends up in the compost or garbage! 
  • BREAD: Is it merely stale or is it moldy? Stale bread = croutons or bread crumbs.
  • DAIRY: Even if your milk smells a bit off or tastes sour, it’s still potentially usable for cooking and baking (unless it contains traces of mold). Think pancakes, soups, and fried eggplant batter. Or think of it as buttermilk! Hard cheeses with a little mold can be rescued by cutting one inch in and around the affected area. (Consuming soft cheeses with mold removed is not recommended.)
  • MEAT: Don’t take any chances with raw meat! It’s not supposed to have much of a smell when it is still safe to prepare and eat. Just because it’s no longer bright red doesn’t mean it has spoiled. Example: Is Raw Ground Beef OK If It’s Turning Brown?
  • FRUIT/VEGGIES: In many cases, you can simply remove the bruises, the brown or mushy parts and still use the food item. Wrinkly produce works just fine in many dishes, from casseroles to stir fry and soup! Again, visit StillTasty.com to check your specific item.
  • Check carefully for mold, indicating potential food-borne pathogens.
  • Clean your refrigerator every few months to inhibit bacterial growth, and make sure it is operating consistently at or below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

SMELL TEST: Revolting

Obviously, you’ll want to “chuck” most anything smelly, sticky or slimy, which is an indication of advanced bacterial growth (a.k.a. science experiment)!

But it doesn’t have to go into the landfill if you’re a resident of Corvallis or Philomath (OR), where curbside composting is available. You can toss nasty, spoiled food — including meat, dairy and bones — in the gray Yard Debris (“Mixed Organics”) cart provided by Republic Services. They have a serious industrial process for turning it into a high-quality compost product.

*****

This week’s Kitchen Confession has a happy ending.

Karen Confesses/Lesson Learned:

During the summer, I came very close to composting about two cups of these “ugly” cherries, which had been neglected in the fridge instead of being enjoyed while fresh. (Remembering to practice what I preach,) I “rescued” them from the compost pail, inspected for mold, rinsed them and trimmed off the brown and pitted spots. The remaining parts of the cherries still looked and smelled good, so they got popped into the blender with some frozen blueberries and leftover ice cream for a delicious treat!

$$ Wasted: Zero

So DOES your food pass the smell test? Remember to check it before you chuck it!

 

 

 

 

 

Category: Kitchen ConfessionsTag: Best by dates, Food expiration dates, food safety, NRDC, OSU Extension Service Home Food Safety and Preservation program, still tasty, zero waste kitchen

Footer

© 2025 No Food Left Behind – Corvallis
  • Facebook
  • Instagram