This challenge has reminded me that we need to talk about things often and in different ways.

I was driving my dad down a road I had not been on in a few weeks and was amazed at how much the corn had grown - it was soooo tall. My dad agreed. One of the kids was with and couldn't see the yellow corn and he was looking hard...I reminded him cobs came off the stalks looking green, we had to husk them. Ohhhhh, that is part of why there is so much waste. I explained to my dad we had talked about how much plant matter was required just to get a cob of corn. He had been a farmer and so knew that on one level, but didn't really think about it until I pointed it out again. We talked about how people are becoming more aware of things and how they can be processed differently instead of just burning it. Then we went on to talk about artichokes...

Point of the story, repetition is critical, and you are never too old to learn something new. Also my dad is pretty smart but doesn't think so and I told him I told people he was all the time so am repeating that here too ;)

Different kind of waste averted today.
Had a kid not eat all of sandwich and set down on chair. Was petting cousin's dog when the other snuck over to grab it. Kid caught just in time. "That would have been such a waste! I cant believe the dog tried to eat my food!!"
...To be fair, grandpa had not dropped any treats for dog at lunch so dog was missing her snack ;)

We have actually lost a several things at that house due to jumping, counter climbing dogs, the worst was when one ate only a few bites out of the center of casserole.

Anyhow, kid learned good lesson about how to best preserve food in that house :D

We ended up with a lot of things from National Night Out, mainly fruit and veggies. I processed some of it today to make it easier to work with in the future, and boxed up some for my dad. We are always part of the cleanup crew and I always have good intentions. This time I really looked at it and the likelihood of it lasting until I could do something with it. Very proud that I actually used it all (or am giving away tomorrow ;) )

We had a few good days, where I was thinking we are awesome, most of our compost is coffee grounds (which are not mine) or fruit coverings, but then found the black beans had gone bad, I was going to finish in lunch but they were now white...

Last night I found the carrots that seemed strange when we opened them had not actually survived very long and I was not willing to risk taking the pet to the dr - AGAIN (spinach incident a few weeks ago).

I just had to throw out some potatoes in a bag. I don't eat potatoes so am not owning responsibility for this one ;) but the person who does only believes they can be cooked one way. I really need to work on that and get them to branch out...This find will make the kitchen smell better (yes, they were that bad!!).

I know we waste more food when we don't cook as often and the weather had been a hindrance recently. Keeping a better track of what we have and NEED to cook will help too.

Hence my motto: We can only do better!

Went to all you can eat corn event this weekend. Corn was ready to eat, but cobs are not a lot smaller when done than when started. People filled bins quickly. When you eat a can of corn it seems like there is almost no waste. Talked with kids about amount of waste for that one food item alone across the whole processing life, and how other food is similar.

Off to good start on tracking compost bin contents - so far watermelon rinds, orange peels, and coffee grinds. I did find a piece of bread in there, but nobody knows how that got there...

My goal is to activity engage the children in the house in being more aware of food waste. We have a notebook by the compost/garbage and all are being asked to help fill it in!