Self Realization & Kitchen Discoveries!

by Christi Lazar @Bazaarlazarr, Contributing Editor to 
​www.UglyProduceisBeautiful.org

I was all set to write an article about shopping local and in season. I even had my pictures from the farmer’s market shot and ready to go. However, as I was scrolling through my Instagram feed, I saw the announcement on @UglyProduceIsBeautiful that Jonathan Bloom had joined the board of advisors for Ugly Produce Is Beautiful. This post contained a quote by Bloom, “If you’re looking for it, you see food waste everywhere – at restaurants, in large portions and even in your own refrigerator.”  

At first I continued scrolling, but my scrolling slowed, and much like Cher in the movie Clueless, I realized I was in love with Josh. Or, in this case, had more of a food waste problem in my own refrigerator than I was comfortable admitting. 

Being a foodie with a passion for cooking has led me to try all sorts of recipes. Some of them work (see Instagram), and some of them don’t (will never see the light of day). While I try to scale back recipes, it’s hard to take a recipe for 8 and make it a recipe for 2.  Thus, food waste. Whether it’s extra produce, or simply leftovers that don’t get eaten fast enough, eventually the trash bag fills up.

Of course this realization snowballed into taking stock of my entire kitchen the other night (imagine spices, jars, cans and the contents of my refrigerator strewn everywhere) in an effort to see what I was about to waste. The result, is what I’m calling my perfect summer salad called the Heirloom Tomato, Watermelon and Prosciutto Salad, which contains the following kitchen finds:

1. Leftover heirloom tomatoes;
2. A watermelon that I never got around to cutting up;
3. A red onion that I didn’t remember buying;
4. Sliced prosciutto that I got for a recipe but never used.

The moral of this story, aside from the creation of a refreshing summer salad, is that you can be contributing to food waste even if you buy organic and support your local growers. An important part of our food waste problem stops when we become aware enough to only buy what we need.

And yes, I’m still trying to piece my kitchen back together!

​Join UPIB and follow @UglyProduceIsBeautiful and  @bazaarlazarr on Instagram.

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