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REP

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30. I have chickens. Nothing goes to waste.

Wed Sep 18, 2013, 05:24 PM

Sep 2013

On the rare occasions vegetables don't get eaten before they go off, they go to the chickens. They get my apple cores and ends of anything we don't eat.

I bake all our bread; if we don't finish a loaf, the skunks get it. They get the table scraps the chickens won't eat. I put my coffee grounds on the roses and the skunks eat those, too!

Canned and boxed goods? If the can isn't deformed or leaking, it's good forever. If the box is clean, unopened and dry, it's probably fine, too.

Meat is the only thing I make sure to use by the expiration date or a few days after it; even though I make an effort to buy the most humanely raised/produced meat possible, I'm still a bit wary of the meat supply.

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Food waste: People misread 'use by' label; 40% of U.S. food is tossed [View all] Liberal_in_LA Sep 2013 OP

If its chicken or milk, it gets thrown out after that date wercal Sep 2013 #1

Looking at my garbage when I haul 'em out weekly.. Koko Ware Sep 2013 #2

We sometimes throw fruit out wercal Sep 2013 #7

I peel and freeze over-ripened bananas for use in making Laurian Sep 2013 #9

Thanks for the tip. wercal Sep 2013 #12

Also for smoothies or non-dairy "ice-cream". cui bono Sep 2013 #18

Frozen bananas are great for smoothies. Blue_In_AK Sep 2013 #40

Thanks for that. Bananas go over ripe too quickley, but........... wandy Sep 2013 #51

i freeze them also Liberal_in_LA Sep 2013 #61

I try to plan to use most of the things you're throwing out csziggy Sep 2013 #22

I second the comment about freezing bananas tabbycat31 Sep 2013 #25

We stopped throwing out fruit malaise Sep 2013 #66

Fast food and regular restaurants, schools, hospitals, and all the retail and wholesale outlets. NYC_SKP Sep 2013 #4

I thought about fast food...and even edited my post with something about it... wercal Sep 2013 #11

A lot does not go to landfills but goes instead to livestock or composting facilities. NYC_SKP Sep 2013 #41

In my experience Sgent Sep 2013 #37

True but don't forget what diners fail to eat, unfinished meals. NYC_SKP Sep 2013 #39

That makes more sense Sgent Sep 2013 #43

The 40% figure includes estimates from farm to table as well as consumer loss. Gormy Cuss Sep 2013 #45

Probably from a recent UN report. Wilms Sep 2013 #8

funny thing about milk hfojvt Sep 2013 #13

When I smell the milk and it smells like it is going sour, RebelOne Sep 2013 #16

Milk can be frozen. Gormy Cuss Sep 2013 #47

my grandmother hfojvt Sep 2013 #48

I usually add some water to (whole) milk when I give it to the dogs DJ13 Sep 2013 #26

I drink skim milk hfojvt Sep 2013 #29

growing up i thought skim milk was GROSS. years later, i switched to it and didn't have dionysus Sep 2013 #32

I think they got better at making it hfojvt Sep 2013 #46

you can tell if milk is bad d_r Sep 2013 #33

Yes, you can tell immediately when it is going sour by smelling it. RebelOne Sep 2013 #44

I learned from my mother to pour it in a cup of hot water. Heywood J Sep 2013 #64

Eh, I'll continue to toss stuff out that's past it's sell by/use by dates. geek tragedy Sep 2013 #3

ironic timing hfojvt Sep 2013 #5

Yup. As long as you smell the food and it doesn't smell bad, chances are it is still good quinnox Sep 2013 #6

many times those labels are barely legible ZRT2209 Sep 2013 #10

I drink milk like 3 days after the use by date hollysmom Sep 2013 #14

I toss that are a couple of months old. RebelOne Sep 2013 #20

I cut the mold off the cheese and keep going! d_r Sep 2013 #34

I do the same. I don't eat much bread and sometimes it molds. RebelOne Sep 2013 #42

OMG - my friends give me such a hard time if I do this, I finally freeze most of the bread and take hollysmom Sep 2013 #63

Preparing us for when we must consume inferior products "that are actually fine." WinkyDink Sep 2013 #15

Or teaching us not to waste products "that are actually fine." LanternWaste Sep 2013 #38

Except "not to waste" is antithetical to the consumerist society in which we live. WinkyDink Sep 2013 #54

I'm always buying "outdated" food! I buy the majority of our meats at the clearance meat bins BoWanZi Sep 2013 #17

I do the same Freddie Sep 2013 #27

me too d_r Sep 2013 #35

They need to put a Dispose Of Date on food that tells when it will be bad NightWatcher Sep 2013 #19

I wonder if that's not by design. A marketing ploy so that Laurian Sep 2013 #21

I shop daily Link Speed Sep 2013 #23

Unless it stinks, has a fur coat, or talks back to me, I will usually eat it. Behind the Aegis Sep 2013 #24

Yep jberryhill Sep 2013 #28

The eggs I get don't have a "use by" date REP Sep 2013 #31

Your brave with the eggs azurnoir Sep 2013 #50

I have chickens. Nothing goes to waste. REP Sep 2013 #30

What kind of skunks are they, wild ones? darkangel218 Sep 2013 #36

I don't trust canned foods anymore...(BPA can-liners) SoCalDem Sep 2013 #57

Well ... in an emergency, my fertility will be the last of my concerns! REP Sep 2013 #60

The same apparently is true of medicines. subterranean Sep 2013 #49

organic milk irisblue Sep 2013 #52

I have beat my head against the wall at work. Curmudgeoness Sep 2013 #53

k and r snagglepuss Sep 2013 #55

No food gets wasted at my house any more... my chickens eat any left-overs they like from the JCMach1 Sep 2013 #56

I pretty much never throw out food unless it stinks or looks off.. RedCappedBandit Sep 2013 #58

I think it's because fewer people know how to handle real food Retrograde Sep 2013 #59

I eat expired foods all of the time. nobodyspecial Sep 2013 #62

This assumes the food has a human-readable date. Heywood J Sep 2013 #65

I believe that translates to "F**k you, I ate four." Orrex Sep 2013 #67

We can't afford to throw out food at my house. ladyVet Sep 2013 #68