Food waste during holidays & beyond

[Helene2013]

We solved the issue of a too small fridge in our RV Emily. We installed a second one. The 2nd fridge is fridge only, no freezer. Makes things a bit more simpler when doing groceries as a small RV fridge is truly small. Since we are parked seasonal (summer) and travel a month a year with it at least, it is very useful to be able to use the 2nd one for drinks and condiments, etc. The main one is used for "real" food.

Seriously, stores are opened around the clock almost everywhere. Why do we need to stock up so much food. We are not going to run out. When I cook, I try to plan for about a week's worth of lunches. Suppers for us is pretty simple. Salad with some type of protein, or just toasts if we do our gym workout. Can't eat much before, even less after and we're in bed by 9pm at the very latest (up at 4:15am for work). So no need to overstuff a fridge or freezer.

We do have a food waste pick up from our town, which they recycle into fertilizers for the farmers. So yes, if we end up wasting, we know it is still being used and not ending in some landfill.

[emily_in_nc]

We solved the issue of a too small fridge in our RV Emily. We installed a second one. The 2nd fridge is fridge only, no freezer. Makes things a bit more simpler when doing groceries as a small RV fridge is truly small. Since we are parked seasonal (summer) and travel a month a year with it at least, it is very useful to be able to use the 2nd one for drinks and condiments, etc. The main one is used for "real" food.

That can work well, depending on your set-up and how small your RV fridge is. Ours is not actually that much smaller than the one we had in the apartments we rented in Mexico, which is considered a normal size for there! In the US, we get used to these ginormous fridges, but in most of the world, they are much smaller. We don't have any extra space in our motorhome for a second fridge, but I know folks who have their RVs parked sometimes put an extra one in a shed outside. Ours is this size and can actually store quite a bit, just not copious stocks of leftovers or frozen foods:

https://pantherrvproducts.com/dometi...oaAtvxEALw_wcB

We wouldn't be able to live in one of the smaller RVs with only a dorm-sized fridge since we cook the vast majority of our meals in our motorhome. Like you say, food is available everywhere, but sometimes we're at a campground fairly far from the nearest town, and since we don't have a car (only our six bikes), we can occasionally go 7-10 days without a grocery stop when we are actively traveling. So we fill the fridge with fresh things on the way and eat out of the pantry until the next stop.

Now that we're parked long-term in Florida within walking distance of Aldi, Publix, and an organic produce store, we end up grocery shopping every day or two and just buy smaller amounts each time instead of a week's worth at a time. It works just fine for just the two of us!

[Helene2013]

Our main fridge is smaller than yours. Not by much but still too small. I also have to do the cooking for the dogs (at least one is "home-fed" since he's old and has health issues - without the food I cook for him he'd be dead by now. ).

We removed the sofa bed (we had 2) on one side and put in a washer/dryer combo and that extra fridge. On top we built a nice big shelf and it fits a 45" tv and the cats food bowls.

But yes, we do try to avoid wasting food. I hate this when you think some people cannot even afford the basics and too many of us throw away good stuff.

[emily_in_nc]

Sounds like a good setup, Helene. I understand about the extra dog food too. Ours is getting up there (will be 10 in Feb), and I may have to start doing that as well at some point.

We actually used the spot for our extra loveseat in our motorhome (which had been changed to a recliner by the previous owner) as our spot for the custom-built six-bike rack my husband built. If we'd carried the bikes outside somehow, we could easily fit a washer/dryer and other things in that area, but we like carrying our bikes safely inside. A bit unconventional, to be sure, but that's us!

[Helene2013]

I understand about the bikes. We only carry 2 of ours and we manage to fit them behind the front bucket seats when parked. We'd never leave those expensive bikes in a shed, even at seasonal campground. So they remain inside when we are gone home for the week to work. When we travel, they fit in the back of our CRV but as soon as we need to do errands or take our 3 dogs on the road , the bikes go back inside the RV. So those 2 buckets are not really used while parked as hard to access. Waste of space...but that's us too.

Ah...we also have a small plugin cooler for the water and hubby's spare beer cans. But we never plug it. We leave this in our bedroom and it serves as a step for the cats to climb on the super high bed.

[lph]

A topic dear to my heart! We have a large fridge and a humongous chest freezer, and for us that actually helps us cut food waste. Especially after our son left home and there are only two of us. We used to make dinner for three people, of which one was a ravenous teenager who would just top up with junk food if he was still hungry later, so we'd always slightly overestimate how much food we needed to cook, to be sure. Now we either cook for just two, which is easier to calculate, or if I'm making for instance a stew or a stir-fry, I'll just pick out one more portion of elk meat from the freezer, chop up all the vegetables in the fridge and make a huge amount. Neither of us really likes to cook much, so having ready-made dinners in the freezer is a godsend.

Almost everything can be eaten safely well after the expiry date, I don't really read dates any more. I've eaten yoghurt that was two months over, unopened, though. Cheese just improves, but I cut off any visible mold. We rarely keep fresh meat or fish in the fridge, but I've read that entire pieces of meat keep very well, and that any discolouration can also be cut away before deciding if it's edible. The only things I'm careful with are processed meats, like sausages or mincemeat, especially sandwich spreads that go in and out of the fridge many times. If I'm uncertain or think I can imagine an iffy smell, I toss it. And I'm fussy about bread, at most I'll eat day-old bread. But we make our own, so I feel that the "resources lost" are pretty local!

The people I know who seem to throw away the most food seem to be people who are avid cooks, who want to try new recipes with odd ingredients, and end up with odd leftovers, and people who want to save tim e or money by stocking up without considering that for instance root vegetables and salad vegetables have very different shelf lives. It's easier to not waste food if you're a bit boring foodwise ;-)

[shootingstar]

How time passes by so quickly that your son has grown up and has left home, lph!
We also just cut off the mold on cheese, cook up slightly older veggies..and fruit. We make fruit compote without sugar and freeze it. I'm glad I am able to freeze some stuff after 2 wks. vacation and no fresh food in fridge yet!
Since we don't have a car, there is more careful planning of food buying especially when winter very cold temp. (ie. -24 to -30 degrees C) with snow, ice doesn't encourage me to venture far and long for groceries.