Food waste is an incredibly extensive problem that we are facing that not only wastes precious resources but contributes to climate change. If we want our planet to stay green, we have to do something to fight food waste.
Nowadays, the average American produces 238 pounds of food waste per year or about ⅔ of a pound per day. Now, this may sound like a lot, but it wouldn’t be so bad if all or nearly all of that waste was composted. Unfortunately, less than 30% of all food waste gets composted, and food waste constitutes anywhere between 30 and 40% of waste in landfills.
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Why is food waste bad?
Any waste that is generated is bad, but not all waste is created equal and some types of waste are worse for the environment than others. In fact, food waste ranks as one of the worst waste offenders when they end up in the landfill. When food begins to decompose without oxygen, it goes through a chemical process that releases methane, a greenhouse gas that is about 26 times more damaging to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. According to extrafood.org, every 100 pounds of food waste that end up in the landfill creates 8.3 pounds of methane.
If you were to compost half of your food waste (in a compost bin like the one above) or simply reduce the food waste you produce by half, you could save 119 pounds of food from ending up in the landfill over the course of one year. That translates to preventing nearly 10 pounds of methane from ending up in the atmosphere!
How can I generate less food waste?
The best thing you can do to prevent food waste is to simply buy less food and keep track of the expiration dates of food items. But, even if you do your best to prevent generating food waste, it’s nearly impossible to generate zero food waste. Think about it. A banana or orange peel is food waste, and so are coffee grounds, and any food that expires before you can eat it. But, a lot of food items that people think about as waste are perfectly edible! Most people throw out things like potato peels and carrot tops when in fact they are safe (and delicious!) to eat.
What does a recipe have to do with this?
Sometimes, all it takes is a great recipe to turn something undesirable into something utterly delicious. For instance, did you know that you can make pesto out of carrot tops? I haven’t tried this myself, but here’s a link to a recipe that looks super yummy. There is one thing I have made and that my whole family RAVED about after trying it, and that’s potato peel chips.
Potatoes are often peeled to make chips, mashed potatoes, or other dishes, and the peels are simply thrown away. But guess what! They make a delicious snack! Coat them in some olive oil and bake them until crispy perfection. And, if you’re brave, go ahead and add some cayenne pepper and paprika to give it a little extra kick.
A few days ago I made some vegetarian chili (recipe coming soon!) and had a bunch of sweet potato peels leftover from it. I had tried the potato peel recipe with normal potatoes before and decided to give sweet potatoes a try. They turned out SO GOOD! I practically had to hide it from my family members to take a picture of how they turned out! The great thing about this recipe is that it doesn’t take very many ingredients and can easily be pulled together in under 30 minutes! Go ahead and give it a try 🙂
Crispy Potato Skin Chips
Ingredients
- 1 heaping handful peeled potato skins (sweet potato or normal)
- 1 tsp olive oil
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 1 pinch (less than ⅛ tsp) cayenne pepper (opt.)
- 1 pinch (less than ⅛ tsp) paprika (opt.)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Toss the potato skins, olive oil, salt, cayenne pepper (opt.) and paprika (opt.) in a bowl until fully mixed together.
- Spread out the potato skin evenly across a sheet-pan. To make the cleanup easier you can add tinfoil (remember that you can use one sheet of tinfoil multiple times and clean it between uses) or a silicone baking sheet to the sheet-pan.
- Once your oven is preheated, add them to the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the potato peels start to look nice and crisp. Then, take the potato peel chips out of the oven and allow them to cool for 5-10 minutes.
- Enjoy! You can also put them in a container and enjoy them throughout your week or share with others!
Curious for more?
Check out some of my other recipes like this one pictured above for delightful lentil and bean veggie patties. More of a tofu type of person? No worries, I got plenty of those! Try out my recipe for Mexican inspired Tofu Tacos or a protein-packed tofu rice bowl with edamame.
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