Want to reduce food waste? Turn your kitchen scraps into something tasty
Washington's Department of Ecology wants you to think twice before throwing out those kitchen scraps — they could be something delicious.
With a little help from local chef Joel Gamoran, you can up your kitchen game, so less food waste goes into the trash.
When KUOW visited Gamoran’s Seattle kitchen, he was cooking what seemed like bacon. But on closer look, it was a banana peel that’s been marinated in brown sugar, smoked paprika chili flakes, maple syrup, and olive oil. After frying over medium high heat, he placed a piece over bread with lettuce and tomato to complete his upcycled BLT sandwich.
(Gamoran called it a “scrappy BLT,” featuring his banana peel bacon along with “revived” mushy tomatoes and mayo made with aquafaba, or chickpea water.)
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A banana peel finds second use as a bacon substitute in chef Joel Gamoran's BLT sandwich.
“It’s about looking at things you would normally throw away and seeing potential,” Gamoran said.
Gamoran even wrote a book on the concept in 2018. It's called “Cooking Scrappy.” Those scraps, he said, can be an inspiration for delicious food or drink.
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“You don’t eat cherry pits, but you can infuse that into a simple syrup make really great cocktails,” he said.
The Department of Ecology has teamed up with Gamoran for its “Use Food Well” campaign in an effort to raise awareness and reduce food waste in half by 2030. The agency estimated Washington generates about a million tons of food waste each year, much of it edible. That adds up to about $1,500 a year for the average family.
“We’re showing the value of all the action we can take through food-waste reduction and, hopefully, in a creative, lighthearted spin,” said Jade Monroe, the agency’s lead for reducing food waste.
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The campaign provides ideas not just for reusing scraps but also for shopping and storing food to get the most out of your purchases.
“Go to the grocery store. You have two bags — throw one in the dumpster,” Gamoran said. “That’s what we’re doing.”
Still, he said reducing food waste doesn’t have to be serious. Gamoran wants people to have fun. The key, he said, is to cook more, so you can get the hang of it. And the more you build the habit, the less you'll waste.
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Ruby de Luna
Reporter
Ruby de Luna is a reporter with a focus on food and how it intersects with health, communities, and culture. She has also reported on health care, and immigrant communities.
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