Upcycling within the Kitchen – Sharon Palmer, The Plant Powered Dietitian

By upcycling meals—giving nearly wasted meals one other probability—you’ll be able to lighten your affect on the planet. Learn to upcycle meals and switch that misplaced meals into edible, nutritious, scrumptious alternatives.

No person intends to waste meals, but 30-40 % of our nation’s meals provide finally ends up as waste, unnecessarily filling landfills and contributing to greenhouse fuel emissions. Everyone knows that generally even our greatest efforts don’t at all times pan out. Efforts to purchase simply the correct amount of contemporary produce and different perishables that we’ll use for the week, stocking the freezer and pantry with gadgets with longer storage occasions, planning meals, buying with a listing, and composting are precisely what we ought to be doing to attenuate meals waste, lower your expenses, assist cut back greenhouse fuel emissions, and contribute to a extra sustainable meals system. (Take a look at my weblog on lowering meals waste right here). And now there’s one other option to proceed reducing the quantity of meals wasted—upcycling! Obtained meals that you simply suppose needs to be tossed? Suppose once more! Upcycling turns that soon-to-be-tossed scrap or limp produce into one thing utterly new to eat. A few of us had been already introduced up doing this as youngsters, having watched our grandparents and oldsters repurpose one thing we now not wished to eat by itself, however in tonight’s pesto or tomorrow’s pasta sauce—scrumptious! Now progressive companies are on board too, minimizing pointless meals waste and creating scrumptious new meals merchandise, whereas working towards a extra sustainable meals system.

How Upcycling Works

Upcycling includes giving nearly wasted meals new life. As a substitute of sending the meals scrap or piece of produce to a landfill, the place it would launch greenhouse gases, comparable to methane, the merchandise is reused and responsibly put again into the availability chain. This doesn’t solely apply to meals that has spoiled however might be performed with meals gadgets which might be too brief, not vivid sufficient, or oddly formed, since supermarkets solely need good wanting merchandise to promote to customers. With out upcycling, all of this spoiled meals or imperfect produce would contribute to the one billion tons of meals that leads to landfills annually. 

Advantages of Upcycling

Upcycling meals doesn’t solely assist cut back greenhouse fuel emissions, it advantages farmers who’re capable of promote extra of their produce to distributors who upcycle. Now distributors have much more inventive retailers and upcycled merchandise to show into new gadgets to supply customers. Plus, customers wish to assist reduce on meals waste, which they’ll do by buying upcycled merchandise.

Upcycling helps shift the meals system to a extra sustainable one which reduces greenhouse fuel emissions, deforestation, and stress on the atmosphere. Upcycling meals may assist shift the mindset to do extra with much less produce and forestall nutritious meals from being tossed away.

Examples of Upcycling

A number of progressive corporations are on the market upcycling meals to cut back carbon footprint. One of many many nice examples of a meals firm upcycling is Barnana, which creates planta chips, banana bites, and cookie brittle from upcycling bananas. Not solely is that this firm lowering meals waste, however it’s serving to farmers promote the vast majority of their crop and assist regenerative agriculture. 

One other instance of upcycling was performed by a bunch of scholars at Drexel College’s Meals Lab, after they turned discarded bananas, apples, and potatoes from a grocery store into ice cream, smoothies, and chips. This younger group of scholars try to convey their Meals Lab concepts to market to proceed stopping this stuff from being wasted and supply customers with new and attractive merchandise to strive. 

One final instance of upcycling performed is from Azuri Well being, in Kenya, and GIZ, a German improvement company, who upcycled overripe mangos into dried mango slices to be offered on the worldwide market.

All of those concepts present the potential of upcycling inside the meals system and will doubtlessly change how we take into consideration wasted meals sooner or later. You’ll be able to search out corporations doing upcycling to assist them along with your meals {dollars}.

Methods to Upcycle at House

Fortunately, you don’t should be a part of an organization or establishment to begin upcycling in your personal residence. A method you’ll be able to upcycle in your house is through the use of over ripe bananas to make banana bread, good cream, or a smoothie.  One other option to reuse meals earlier than it spoils is drying or dehydrating it to last more, comparable to drying apples to make apple chips. Additionally, you’ll be able to flip vegetable scraps, such because the leaves of broccoli and carrots and peels from potatoes, right into a scrumptious vegetable broth that can be utilized to make soups, stews, and chili. If you wish to get your youngsters concerned with upcycling, allow them to assist make fruit and veggie popsicles with produce that’s about to go south. Not solely will the youngsters love the yummy deal with, they are going to have opened up their minds to the chances of upcycling meals.

Whether or not you upcycle by yourself or assist manufacturers that observe upcycling, advocating for the meals system to shift to the sort of observe will assist not solely save meals from being wasted, however construct a sustainable meals system that present and future generations can take pleasure in.

Written by Michelle Naragon, Dietetic Intern with Sharon Palmer, MSFS, RDN

References

Fehling, A. (2016). 5 Cool Methods Meals Waste is Getting Upcycled. Nationwide Geographic.  https://www.nationalgeographic.com/tradition/article/5-cool-ways-food-waste-is-getting-upcycled

N.A. (2021).  About. Barnana.  https://barnana.com/pages/sustainability

N.A. (2021). What’s Upcycled Meals? Upcycled Meals Affiliation. https://www.upcycledfood.org/what-is-upcycled-food

N.A. (2021). What’s Up with Upcycled Meals? Brandpoint Hub. https://hub.brandpoint.com/content material/preview/1037902