Context:

Carleigh Bodrug, a cook from Barrie, Ontario, identified significant food waste while testing recipes for her plant-based blog, PlantYou, and realized many home cooks experience similar waste. She found that the average family of four wastes approximately $1,500 annually on groceries, but by adopting food waste-reducing strategies, families could save over $1,000 per year. Bodrug emphasizes the importance of consuming more fruits and vegetables, as most people do not meet the daily recommended fiber intake, which is vital for gut health and reducing chronic diseases. Her cookbook, 'PlantYou: Scrappy Cooking,' promotes using every part of produce from root to stem to minimize waste and maximize nutritional benefits. She suggests practical steps such as meal planning, shopping your kitchen first, utilizing food scraps, and being flexible with recipes to achieve financial savings and environmental benefits.

Dive Deeper:

• Carleigh Bodrug realized she was wasting more food and money than desired while developing recipes for her plant-based blog, which led her to research food waste among home cooks. She discovered that families waste significant amounts of money on groceries annually, which could be reduced by over $1,000 with intentional food waste management.

• Bodrug's research highlights that 30% to 40% of the American food supply ends up in landfills, contributing to environmental and financial burdens. Her viral social media video on 'scrappy cooking' demonstrated a strong interest in maximizing the use of food scraps, prompting her to inspire others to adopt similar practices.

• Her cookbook, 'PlantYou: Scrappy Cooking,' encourages consuming more plant-based foods, as most people do not meet the recommended fiber intake necessary for gut health and chronic disease prevention. The book emphasizes eating fruits and vegetables from root to stem, reducing waste and enhancing dietary fiber intake.

• Bodrug suggests practical strategies for reducing food waste, such as creating a meal plan to avoid unnecessary purchases, shopping your kitchen before heading to the store, and using all parts of produce, such as broccoli stalks, to maximize grocery dollars and reduce waste.

• She advises flexibility with recipes to accommodate available ingredients, such as curries or pasta dishes that can incorporate leftover vegetables. Bodrug also challenges the strict adherence to 'best before' dates, encouraging the use of senses to assess food quality and prevent unnecessary waste.