David Robert Lambert

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is calling on both the public sector and private industry to reduce food waste.  He said the USDA is going to:

• “Develop a nationwide social media campaign with our partners to focus on precisely what the use by date and the sell by date means so that folks don’t discard food prematurely.”

• “Continue to use our social media to develop a new food storage application that will give people up to date information on how and best to store food and what constitutes safe or unsafe food.”

• “Work with our school lunch program to reduce food waste in our schools.”

• “Look for ways we can increase donations of imported fresh produce that for whatever reason don’t meet our marketing order standards.”

VILSACK SAID THAT WASTING FOOD IS A MORAL ISSUE IN A NATION WHERE THERE ARE HUNGRY PEOPLE.

He said that “part of this is thinking about portion sizes.”

How many times have you gone to a restaurant and have been served much more than you can eat?  My wife has a solution.  She literally cuts her meal in half before she starts and eats exactly half — what will-power!  On other occasions, we order two soups or salads and split one entrée so we have no leftovers.

Vilsack also said that “understanding precisely what the food safety rules are so that you are not discarding food that would otherwise would be healthy and nutritious for your family.”

How many times have you brought home leftovers to weeks later find it hidden in the back of the fridge?  Our solution: take a piece of masking tape and date the container.  Depending on the type of food, throw it out within 3-4 days or a week if it hasn’t been eaten in a timely manner.

There are other things you can do to keep your family safe from foodborne illness.  As the USDA, FDA, CDC and Ad Council public service announcements say: Clean, Separate, Cook and Chill.

http://www.foodsafety.gov

This entry was posted on 2013/06/07 at 23:27 and is filed under DC, Food & Culinary Arts, General, Maryland, Montgomery County, Virginia, Washington DC Region. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.