329: The Leftover Problem: Why Perfectly Good Food Ends Up in the Bin

Tracy Stuckrath [00:00:00]:
Hey, everybody, and welcome to another episode of Eating at a Meeting. I'm Tracy Stuckrath and I'm so excited to be back with you. It's been two weeks since I was here with you live. And last week I was actually doing a food waste audit in Balt or of an event that had about 5,000 people at it. And so we did, we audited a bunch of different things on their lunches and their breakfast. So it was really interesting to see that. But also as I was prepping to go on that trip and then, and this conversation with Rachel today, you know, just looking back at some of the events that I produced, there's a lot of waste.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:00:46]:
And so that's why we're here, to talk about the leftover problem, why perfectly good food ends up in the bin. And I'm excited to introduce you to Rachel Jackson A finger here. She's a journalist out of D.C. and she's a food waste editor, educator, I should say, and the founder of eatortoss.com she's award winning. It's an award winning site helping millions of people figure out what food is still good and what's not with science, humor and real photos. So granted, I was showing photos of, you know, excess bowls of ketchup at an event. Rachel, you're going to talk more specifically about mostly what's in our homes and how, and I think it can relate to what we're doing at events too. So welcome to the show.

Rachel Jackson [00:01:32]:
Thanks so much for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:01:34]:
Thanks. So, yeah, the leftover problem, why perfectly good food ends up in the bin. So tell us about, I want to know how you got into this, but tell us how what is Eat or Toss and how you got into this.

Rachel Jackson [00:01:48]:
Yeah, so Eater Toss is a website that kind of functions as a database of strange looking food. So the idea is that if you are in your kitchen and you come across something that's not looking quite as you expected, it's a place where you can find hopefully a picture of what you're seeing in your kitchen to compare and to know that we're talking about the same thing. And then get a quick explanation of is it okay to eat or not. And then for curious people who really need the why, which I count myself as one of those people, that's why I do this, there's also an explanation. So I don't, I don't like to just give people, yes, thumbs up, no thumbs down. I like to talk about kind of what's going on in the food to cause that change. So this can be, you know, apples with various types of spots. Avocados can certainly get very interesting.

Rachel Jackson [00:02:33]:
I have a lot of avocado posts. Potatoes. I have. Potatoes are actually the most searched term on the website because potatoes do all sorts of strange things. Yes. Yeah, it surprises me a little bit too, but people have a lot of questions about potatoes.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:02:45]:
So, I mean, like, when those little things come out of them, is it still good to eat them?

Rachel Jackson [00:02:50]:
The potatoes themselves are fine. You don't want to eat the sprouts.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:02:53]:
Okay.

Rachel Jackson [00:02:54]:
Sprouts.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:02:54]:
Sprouts, yeah.

Rachel Jackson [00:02:55]:
Okay. And that's different for sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes, you probably wouldn't want to use the sprouts whenever you're making, but some people actually do eat sweet potato greens, and those are fine. So it's interesting how every plant is different. They all have different stories. And I, I, I started this because I had these questions myself and I was finding myself very uncertain. I had signed up for a farm share and some of the things that were coming in the box didn't look quite right to me. And not in a, you know, acutely misshapen tomato kind of way, but more in a, you know, there are spots on this.

Rachel Jackson [00:03:31]:
Are they okay or are they a problem or. One of my favorite posts ever was from that, that farm show that got me into this. I baked a potato, took it out of the oven, cut it in half as you do when you're having a baked potato. And there was this hole in the middle that was very angular, and it looked to me like some sort of message from an alien. It was so strange and, and I just really wanted to know what it was. And it was very off putting. I would understand if somebody found that and they threw it away. But I took that image, sent it to a professor at the University of Idaho and said, what's going on? And that led to a post about something called hollow heart, which is when potatoes get too much water in the field, grow really fast, and then develop a hole in the middle.

Rachel Jackson [00:04:17]:
So it's not a disease, it's just a funny quirk and it's fine to eat. And she jokes, it's a good place to put your butter. So I, yeah, I love it. And she's wonderful and she's been so helpful to me over the years. So I love stories like that. It can help people kind of understand what's going on with their food and help them make more informed decisions about whether to throw something away or still eat it.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:04:39]:
So what is what's the what has surprised you the most about people's reactions to food waste based on what you show them?

Rachel Jackson [00:04:47]:
I think that the biggest thing is people not seeing waste. I think we're a little blind to it. And so I will frequently encounter people who assure me that they don't waste a lot of food. And I believe that is their experience that, you know, they. They don't see that food going to waste. But a lot of us, a lot of our food waste is really hard to see and hard to notice. And it's not until you actually start measuring and really paying attention and really thinking before you throw away each piece of food that you start to realize just how quickly that can add up. And there are actually studies that confirm this that people tend to waste more than they think.

Rachel Jackson [00:05:26]:
And so kind of bridging that gap and doing so in a way that is not shaming, I think is very important to me.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:05:33]:
Right. Yeah.

Rachel Jackson [00:05:34]:
And say, like, hey, we're all doing this. Like, and I know I waste food and I'm hyper aware of every instance in which, oops, I didn't plan that well and I had to throw that food away. And now what can I learn from that so that I can do better next time? So I don't. When I do have to throw away food, I don't like it. But I try to view it as a learning experience as opposed to just being sad, which I also.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:06:00]:
What is the one thing that you get? I mean, the potato you said was the most searched food. But, like, what do you think that we all waste the most?

Rachel Jackson [00:06:09]:
That is a great question. And you know, there are studies on this. And now, and I'm blanking on what kind of bubbles to the top. I know there is a lot of produce that goes to waste and that some of the more expensive items, like meats, do not tend to go to waste as much because people recognize that they're more expensive. I think that leftovers that are just forgotten and abandoned tend to come up a lot in households. Particulars on the most wasted items, hard to say. But that data is out there if folks want to track it down. For me, just the general awareness of everything you throw away is very important.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:06:48]:
Right. Yeah.

Rachel Jackson [00:06:49]:
In terms of just tracking yourself and looking at your habits.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:06:52]:
Well, and I ate leftovers this morning. My mother had made tuna fish yesterday, and I ate the leftover tuna. Right. Because so I'm really. I'm kind of good at. And probably the best person in the household that eats the leftovers, whereas some of it just Gets left for a while and don't want to heat it up or you know, or actually my parents ordered food last night and we. I. It was from takeout so I went and picked it up and it was like overly cooked and like inedible.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:07:21]:
So unfortunately we. They. They're like we can't eat this. And ended up. They did eat leftovers out of the fridge inside said. But you know that that does play a part in it too. Right. But that wasn't necess to me.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:07:35]:
That wasn't their fault. Right. It was inedible food which I didn't check before I left the restaurant.

Rachel Jackson [00:07:41]:
Yeah. That's hard. Yeah. Because you don't. That there's a line where you don't want to eat something you don't want to eat.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:07:46]:
Right. Yeah. And.

Rachel Jackson [00:07:47]:
And food needs to taste good and be good for us and yeah. It's always. I always find that really heartbreaking when it's just not good or it's an issue. On the restaurant side. I have been known to take. I'm a wimp and I can't tolerate spicy food very well and I will actually take that home with me and then like not really fix it, but fix it for me. So I'll dilute something that's too spicy in like pasta or rice or something and like try to work with it. But if you got takeout that was overcooked, I can't imagine.

Rachel Jackson [00:08:19]:
I don't know. It's hard to think of a good way to rescue that.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:08:23]:
Right. Yeah. So there was. Okay just talking about taking home food from restaurants. There was in your Washington in the post that you shared with me and I'm gonna look it up real quick. I thought I had it right in front of me about like make sure you're giving people bring your own container and take home food. You know one do a lot of restaurants have you. Do they care that you're bringing your own container? No, no.

Rachel Jackson [00:08:47]:
Yeah. They sometimes their reactions are very varied. Sometimes they kind of look the other way like, oh, that's a little weird. Nobody has ever said you can't do that. Right. And the. And and some people are like that's awesome. And you know, give me a high five.

Rachel Jackson [00:09:04]:
And then something that happened to me this week that is. Is so hard because it's so well intentioned a server sauce doing that and like walks by and just drops some containers on the table and I'm like oh no, we were prepared. We don't want now that you can't use those containers. Anymore. And my whole goal was to avoid using a single use container. And you were trying to be helpful, and I really appreciate that. And that was very sweet and kind. And so that's kind of the range of.

Rachel Jackson [00:09:32]:
Of reactions that I get.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:09:34]:
Yeah. So. And like, let's tie this to events a little bit, too, because one of your things. And I'm going to post this Washington Post article in the chat here for everybody to the. It says, bring the leftovers to a wedding. And you shared with the story, you know, from another event, too. I'm like, have you. I mean, your friends who are having you come to an event, they know you're probably going to do that.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:09:57]:
But what do you. I think caterers might be, like, questioning that, or will the brides question that, or do you approach that beforehand?

Rachel Jackson [00:10:08]:
Yeah, I really gauge the situation very heavily. And when. When I've taken food home from a wedding, it has been the. The most recent examples I can think of were actually from my own plate, so it was a larger serving than I needed. I. I always. It's always hard when there's a lot of past hors d' oeuvres and then a full plate of food that's delivered to you. And that's too much food for me, and I don't want it to go to waste.

Rachel Jackson [00:10:33]:
And so it also helps if it is a wedding where maybe you're staying in a hotel at the venue. Um, because I'm also very careful with refrigeration and I'm sensitive to how long it's been out. But if it is a plated meal where I have filled up on delicious hors d' oeuvres, and now there's far more food in front of me than I can eat, I have no problem just taking out a container, putting the food in there, and then running it up to my room and putting it in the fridge, and no one cares because it's just my plate. And I don't think many people actually notice that I'm doing it. The other kind of situation might be if I'm at an event and it's clearly winding down, people are leaving, there's a lot of food still on the buffet. At that point, I would approach the organizers of the event and say, hey, do you guys have a plan for this food? Do you need help? Because I would be glad to take some of it. And often, you know, and this. This runs the gamut from, like, kids birthday parties to, like, community events to, like, something extremely formal.

Rachel Jackson [00:11:31]:
And often it's like, oh, my God, yes. I don't want to throw this away. Help. And occasionally it's. We have a plan for it. Don't worry, the bride and groom are taking it home or whatever, but usually. And then, you know, I'm always glad I checked, but usually it is, yes, please. And so that's when I'll get out the container.

Rachel Jackson [00:11:47]:
And what's really wonderful is once I do that, if it's a venue that's able to put out containers, then other people start doing it. And so it really breaks the seal and it makes other people comfortable. And I was actually at an event earlier this year when, where it was kind of a newer group and I was not really sure I wanted to pull this move because I can be very self conscious about it and it depends on the vibes and my comfort. And I saw someone else doing it and I was just so thrilled. I was like, you're one of me. I'm so thrilled you're here. And then we became buddies and we were both. I had a container with me, but not enough.

Rachel Jackson [00:12:22]:
And so we both grabbed some coffee cups and we're putting the food in coffee cups. And then as soon as we were doing it, more and more people came to this table that had food on it. And we're like, this was so delicious. I don't want to see it go to waste. And so then they were taking food home as well. So it's neat to see it kind of move like that.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:12:41]:
Right.

Rachel Jackson [00:12:41]:
And then. And I have, you know, pizza tends to be. There's often too much pizza at kids events. And in those situations, I'm kind of like known for running around with a stack of pizza, asking if anybody wants some and if there's a lot and it's more than we can handle. I do know a place like food rescue organizations usually can't take anything that's been served, but they're in my own community. I know a space. I can take some pizzas and give them to people who will be very happy to have them in a less formal way than a formalized food rescue arrangement. So, yeah, it just really depends on the event and the type of food and the vibes, but it can really run the gamut.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:13:22]:
Well, okay, so I want to jump back to this, the personal side of it too, because it does. Yeah. And I've talked to a couple of different. We'll get back to the event side of it. But I want to talk about at home. What are some of the biggest steps or things that you see people or that we steps that we can take to manage food waste at home.

Rachel Jackson [00:13:43]:
I think the biggest thing, which feels a little counterintuitive and you'll see conflicting advice on this, but is going shopping less. There's. You'll often hear like, you know, do shorter, smaller shopping trips. And I. I entirely agree with the spirit of that. But when there's all this availability of something new, it's a lot harder to look deeper into your cabinets and to try to clear the things out of the fridge. And I find that things seem less appealing, but the things that are kind of like the scrappy odds and ends that you really want to use up, I find, you know, in. In my own house just are less appealing when there's something shiny and new right next to them and they just don't feel as valuable.

Rachel Jackson [00:14:22]:
And so I really like to delay a shopping trip if I can and to really minimize what I'm buying. And then when I do go shopping, which is, you know, still fairly often, I try to plan my meals and plan what I'm getting based on what I'm trying to use up.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:14:36]:
Right.

Rachel Jackson [00:14:37]:
Well, start with that kitchen scan. Plan meals accordingly and then buy.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:14:41]:
Yeah, yeah. I mean, a couple weeks ago, I think I mentioned this on the show the couple weeks as well. But I like made fried rice out of. I had a bowl of rice and I had some eggs and I had some vegetables and I just stir fried it. And that was a great lunch. Just from looking at what was potentially about to go bad. Right. And wanting to use it up before I left on a trip.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:15:05]:
Right. Yeah.

Rachel Jackson [00:15:06]:
That's great. Yeah. And I bet it was absolutely delicious too.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:15:09]:
It was really good. Yeah. And I haven't made homemade fried rice in a long time. And so it was a nice different take on my lunch, you know, as normal. Yeah.

Rachel Jackson [00:15:20]:
And I love that because this. Oh, sorry.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:15:22]:
No, go ahead.

Rachel Jackson [00:15:23]:
No, like, what I love about this style of kind of cooking, meal planning and eating is you're always eating something different. And it really encourages like play and creativity and kind of experimenting. And there are. Irene and Margaret Lee wrote their. They started a dumpling restaurant up in Boston and they wrote this amazing book, Perfectly good food that has a lot of recipes on it on reducing food waste. And they. Irene Lee, I often hear her saying, eat the evidence. If it doesn't work out, like, you work with what you have, hopefully it comes out delicious.

Rachel Jackson [00:15:55]:
If it doesn't, you learn something, eat the evidence. And I think that is just such a great way to approach it because it's fun to experiment and try. And you just. As long as you're doing so, understanding that it's a learning process and it will probably be delicious and just in case it's not, that's okay, right?

Tracy Stuckrath [00:16:09]:
Yeah. I mean, if it's completely and utterly disgusting and whatever, that's one thing. But yeah. Just. Yeah. And you. Nobody's going to know the difference except for you, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:16:22]:
So what are some. Besides that. I mean, I love that because you don't. And fill out what's in the cabinet before you go. And even like yesterday my mom bought a new thing of mustard. And I'm like, mom, we have mustard in the cabinet. She's like, I couldn't find it. But again, it was up higher.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:16:39]:
And the lid, like the mustard things are now the white part was down at the bottom. So she, when she could, it was a clear thing, but she couldn't see that the yellow part of it. Right. So now we have mustard, you know, two bottles of mustard. So now we don't have to buy mustard for a while. But it's like, I like the fact of looking through our pantries to see what we have. So we're not over buying it, but. All right, I want to go into a couple of things and I.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:17:04]:
Because I went to your website, posted up here and actually maybe we could put it in here, but yellow broccoli, because that pops up your latest post.

Rachel Jackson [00:17:14]:
Oh, yeah, I just put that up this morning.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:17:16]:
You did? Okay. Yeah. So let's talk about yellow broccoli. What makes broccoli yellow? And is it still safe to eat?

Rachel Jackson [00:17:21]:
Yes, it is still safe to eat. Yellow broccoli will have lost some nutrition. So, you know, you don't. Ideally, your broccoli will not get yellow, and that can come about if you're not keeping it cold enough or if somebody before the broccoli made it to you did not keep it cold enough. So you probably won't see your broccoli turning yellow if it's been in the fridge for a while.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:17:39]:
Okay.

Rachel Jackson [00:17:40]:
But if it's out, and that's different. The one thing I don't want people to worry about, which is a post that's going up probably in two weeks, is the broccoli shoulders. So if you. And this is mentioned in that post as well, but if you, if you've ever, you know, been chopping up your broccoli and noticed that below the. The surface kind of where the little florets are touching, you're seeing yellow or less, less green areas of the broccoli, that's only an area where the sun did not hit. So that's totally fine. Nothing to worry about.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:18:09]:
So how do you, like you said you sent the potato, you know, picture of the potato to this, to the professor. How do you. Are you. Did you study science in school or writing in school? Okay.

Rachel Jackson [00:18:24]:
Yeah. So I'm comfortable. Yeah. Yeah. I love talking to experts about how things work and finding those experts and, and then sharing that with people. So, yeah, all those things. I just love doing this and I love the puzzles.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:18:39]:
Yeah.

Rachel Jackson [00:18:40]:
Solving these little mysteries.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:18:42]:
Well, kind of on that same note is like. And going back to the. Figuring out what's in your kitchen or in your refrigerator is too, is like if you're going to make a sauce, nobody's going to know that tomato, you know, or that carrot had strings on it or the, or the potato was growing little sprouts on it. Right. Like you're chopping it up and you're putting it in a Vitamix or you're putting it in a soup. Yeah. Like, so what's your take on even the, the yellow broccoli? We could just throw that in soup if you're not comfortable with eating it, right?

Rachel Jackson [00:19:12]:
Yeah, yeah, that would be fine. In soup.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:19:15]:
But how. Oh, I forgot what I was going to say, where I was going to go with that. Never mind. The. You mentioned some food rescue organizations. You know, what role do they have in food rescue? In food rescue organizations, in rescuing event food waste or even can. There's a lot of different organizations that you could do your own food waste, like share. Hey, I'm going on vacation.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:19:41]:
Who wants my food? Right?

Rachel Jackson [00:19:43]:
Yeah.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:19:44]:
Do you have any information on those?

Rachel Jackson [00:19:46]:
So I know there, there has been some work to help people. That vacation food waste is definitely a puzzle. I'm not 100% up on that, but I have heard of, you know, some, some highly. Some areas that have a lot of vacation traffic, some stores, they're not doing buy one, get one free to help reduce waste. People who are stocking a rental house might not be able to resist that. They can buy one salt, get another salt free, but that's silly because they're going to leave and sometimes those houses are cleaned out and then everything is thrown away, which is too bad. There is an organization called, I believe Move for Hunger, which helps people when they're moving, sort out all that extra food. And I think they've been doing a lot of great work.

Rachel Jackson [00:20:27]:
The food rescue organizations that actually go to events are wonderful. Anybody planning an event should Try to track down their local food rescue organization. There's a kind of. There's a larger network called Food Rescue Us that has locations around the country. And then there are also some smaller entities that are just local to their area that will do food rescue. And I. The. The impact that these groups have is just phenomenal.

Rachel Jackson [00:20:55]:
And they work on all these different levels, which I think is so wonderful. Like you. You sign up as a volunteer and you go to the event where, you know, the person running the event probably doesn't have the staff or the time or the bandwidth to direct that extra food somewhere. So you are the volunteer who's like the missing link. And then you get your assignment and you take it to a nonprofit that has indicated a needle. And this is like prepared, beautiful, delicious food. And I love the. Obviously the environmental impact is huge because it's not being thrown away.

Rachel Jackson [00:21:22]:
And then you're helping people in need. And then it also builds community because you have this volunteer who's, you know, going in between this, you know, community's event that maybe is a place they never would have gone to before, and then going to this community group that now they're learning about and helping them help people.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:21:39]:
Right. And I think what. We're going to see a lot more of that or need a lot more of that.

Rachel Jackson [00:21:45]:
Yeah, absolutely.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:21:46]:
In the next couple years. Yeah, yeah.

Rachel Jackson [00:21:50]:
The.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:21:51]:
How in. In getting involved in those organizations. I mean, it's not just. It's personally fulfilling. Right. But it's filling. It's also like helping your neighbor because you never know what your neighbor's going through. Yeah, right.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:22:05]:
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. There's one guy in my neighborhood who he and his wife help out an organization in distributions on Saturdays. And whatever they have left, they actually put it out on our neighborhood group, Google group, and say, okay, hey, we've got peppers and avocados and whatever and come please take whatever you need for free. And people are taking their bags over there and every week is different. So I love the fact that. That they do that. I don't think necessarily our neighborhood needs it as much as another neighborhood would, but at the same time, it's going to people and not just being dumped.

Rachel Jackson [00:22:42]:
Yeah, yeah, that's great. I love that he does that. That's so wonderful.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:22:47]:
Yeah, it's. It's nice. I mean, you. We've got like onions and grapes and it's a wide variety of things. Okay, so I want to go. So you said presentation and portion size. We were talking about this earlier and beforehand play a big role in waste. And I'm thinking of some restaurants that I'm like, you get a serving and it could be four dishes full of food, it could be four meals.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:23:08]:
What are some simple changes that we can do at home but that you also think that if we could apply it to a meeting or an event, that can be. We can do personally to help reduce waste?

Rachel Jackson [00:23:21]:
Yeah, I think just shrinking everything down really helps. Like on like, on like the per item level. Like, I mean, this could apply if you're hosting a party at home or an event like giant muffins. I find very stressful because like, I don't want to commit to that huge muffin. I don't know if I'm going to like it. Also, it's next to a chocolate croissant and I kind of want that too. And you're making me choose like, so I wish that those desserts and pastries were smaller. Sorry, I have a.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:23:51]:
That's okay. At least they're not coming for you.

Rachel Jackson [00:23:53]:
Yeah, that's true, that's true. They, they, they're around the corner, but yeah, so just, just making those things smaller so people can still enjoy whatever variety you have. And then they're not committing to things that are as large. Like same even with like a cheese tray. Like sometimes I've seen cheese trays where the individual, they made individual pieces, but they're like enormous. And yeah, that's just not a healthy amount of cheese for anyone to eat. But also if you want, if you're like me and you want to sample the various cheeses because you think cheese is amazing. Like it's a kind of weird position that you're put in.

Rachel Jackson [00:24:22]:
So it just. And this is very micro level, but like giving people the option to try smaller portions I think makes a really big difference. And then that works, you know, as well with plate size. If you have a buffet like there. There are studies on this that giving people a smaller plate will. And it also at the same time saying we welcome you to come back for left for seconds if you want more.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:24:42]:
Right.

Rachel Jackson [00:24:45]:
Really does reduce the amount of food people take and ultimately the amount of waste from the meal. I did that at Thanksgiving this year and had one person say that they actually really liked it because they felt like they could have a more Thanksgiving style heaping plate because they had a smaller plate to work with. So I mean, we put out salad plates instead of dinner sized plates, which I was a little worried about, but it seemed to go well.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:25:04]:
So.

Rachel Jackson [00:25:05]:
Yeah.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:25:06]:
Because there's still food to go back like, it's not like. Yeah. And then you're not taking more than what you can actually eat. Because always at Thanksgiving, our eyes are bigger than our stomachs.

Rachel Jackson [00:25:16]:
Yeah. Right. And if you take like, you know, and maybe the right size spoonful of mashed potatoes for you, looks weird on a huge plate, but looks just right on a smaller plate. And because it can be so hard to gauge.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:25:28]:
Yeah.

Rachel Jackson [00:25:29]:
Especially when there are lots of things to try.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:25:31]:
Right, Exactly. And sometimes there's having so many options to try is hard. Makes it. You want to take everything and then you're definitely. Your eyes are bigger than your stomach.

Rachel Jackson [00:25:41]:
Yeah.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:25:42]:
What are some menu items that help minimize waste?

Rachel Jackson [00:25:46]:
Oh, that's a cool question. Like that the caterer might put out.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:25:52]:
Yeah. Or even at home. Yeah.

Rachel Jackson [00:25:54]:
I mean, I guess it depends on like where you're starting from. Because for me, if I'm cooking at home and I have a lot of things to use up, one of my go to tends to be just pasta. So I'll just kind of mix them with pasta. That would obviously not work and like a catering setup. And so I'm trying to think of what might be less wasteful there. And gosh, it's hard because there's so many things that go into that. Right, right.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:26:20]:
Yeah.

Rachel Jackson [00:26:20]:
And I think maybe starting with just more generally a menu that if a caterer, like depending on your situation, what the client wants and what your own flexibility is, I would love to see and hear about caterers and event planners starting from a position of, oh, wow, we have this leftover from this other event that's still perfectly good. Obviously that's unlikely to be a prepared dish, but maybe like an ingredient that was over ordered. What neat thing can we build around this ingredient? So that's not right sitting around and we can use it. And similarly, not like choosing the things that are on the menu with an eye toward what kind of extras they might produce and what you might be able to do with those extras, if anything.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:27:05]:
Yep.

Rachel Jackson [00:27:06]:
So if it's. If you're making something that has cilantro in it and you're only using the leaves, can you blend the stems into something that you might mix with rice or something like that? Or a pesto?

Tracy Stuckrath [00:27:17]:
Oh, that's. I love. I never even thought about of a cilantro pesto. That's an interesting flavor. Right?

Rachel Jackson [00:27:22]:
Yeah, yeah.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:27:23]:
There's.

Rachel Jackson [00:27:24]:
There's a restaurant in D.C. called Chaya Tacos, and that is one of their signature items.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:27:29]:
Really.

Rachel Jackson [00:27:29]:
They're green rice and they put cilantro on their tacos. And then you can order a side of the green rice, and that contains the stems that just been blended and mixed.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:27:39]:
Oh, that's really cool. Well, and just kind of going to the, like, what. And I've talked about this for years. It's like, hey, what else is the. You know, what's Rachel's event serving this week? Can I serve that same thing? And, you know, it's called ganging menus. And there's a lot of hotels now that are going, hey, here's what we serve on Mondays. Here's what we serve on Tuesdays for the lunches especially. And, you know, I've had planners say, well, I don't want to serve.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:28:04]:
I don't want to eat the same thing. If I'm coming back to a hotel, you know, a couple. I'm going to do two or three events at this hotel. I don't want to eat. Serve them the same food. Although I'm sure those attendees aren't paying attention that closely to what's being served in March to October. But at the same time, that is really ganging a menu. Right.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:28:24]:
To helping those chefs order less instead of customizing every single meal. Yeah.

Rachel Jackson [00:28:30]:
Yeah, for sure.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:28:32]:
And how. When you're. Okay, so let's think about that at home, though. When you're. When you're thinking at home and you're at Costco, right. And you're buying cilantro or whatever, like, really think through how you can. Maybe your whole week is cilantro. You don't.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:28:47]:
I don't think anybody wants to do that much cilantro in a week. But have you. Do you teach those things? And I know you've done a cooking challenge during Food Waste Prevention Week, so talk a little bit about that and how that. What I just asked ties into that.

Rachel Jackson [00:29:02]:
Yeah. So the cooking challenge is something we do. We've done it two years now and plan to continue keeping this as an annual event. And so Food Waste Prevention Week is a weekly. So it has been in. In April and for the past two years, it. Maybe we may be shifting it. So I don't know.

Rachel Jackson [00:29:25]:
Yeah. So, but it. What we've done during the week is just to encourage people across the country. Actually even got a submission from. From South Africa this year. So also the world to just make something with whatever they have and tell us about it. So this kind of goes back to the, like, not going to the store situation, where the. The premise of the challenge is to just give people an extra reason to work with what they have and be creative and then share the story with us.

Rachel Jackson [00:29:53]:
And then we. We look through all these stories and then picked. Every year we pick five winners who just really wow us with like how creative it is, how well it repurposes things. And they're. The recipes are just really cool and inspiring. Like, we had Someone 1 Entry 2 years ago that was a like inverted potluck, if we can call it that, where it was some friends who. I don't know if inverted is the right way to put it, but like they invited everybody to come with something they needed to use up for in their house. And then they worked together to figure out the right.

Rachel Jackson [00:30:24]:
Yeah. And they ended up making tacos and another person made. She had avocado, she had sweet potato, and she made sweet potato toast. And she had some other things too that she put on there. But it was very creative. And it kind of. When you're working with what you have, like you kind of slot similar ingredients and you can think more about that. Like it gives you this flexibility.

Rachel Jackson [00:30:45]:
And so. And another person did another entry that I thought was very fun, especially since, you know, I'm someone focused on, you know, making sure to use restaurant leftovers. This is someone. It was her last day of vacation in a rental house. They had leftovers from their dinner the night before. They also had some pasta sauce from a dinner they had. They had cooked in their. Their unit.

Rachel Jackson [00:31:04]:
And. And so she did this kind of eggy tomato, kind of rescue shakshuka. And it was great. And she helped her clear out the kitchen before they left the rental house. She used some onions that were like a leftover garnish. Really creative.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:31:19]:
Oh, I love that idea. And it reminds me. I know. I think it's an Atlantic beach here in North Carolina and it's one beach in North Carolina. Like the rental organizations are promoting. Hey, get your vegetables from the farmer's market, which I love. You know, hey, did you know there's a farmer's market here? But then at the same time, hey, how can we do help you utilize that? Or here's some recipes to utilize what you're getting from the farmers market, especially just before you check out. Yeah.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:31:47]:
Because that would be a really like the beach weeks. Like that would be a really good thing for those rental companies to. You help one buy local. But also, hey, don't waste.

Rachel Jackson [00:31:56]:
Right. Yeah, yeah. Especially if you're on vacation and you have all these big ideas about what you're going to do. Right?

Tracy Stuckrath [00:32:03]:
Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because it depends on how many people you have and you know what you've got left over if you didn't drive and you can't take it home. You know, what are you going to do with all that food? Yeah, yeah. So what would you, what's one behind the scenes decision that often leads to massive food waste at events or, you know, ones that you've seen or even at restaurants. And I want to get to your experience of working with restaurants from nose to tail and. Yeah, yeah.

Rachel Jackson [00:32:30]:
One thing you know, talked about like, you know, portion size for those kind of more finger foods. Another thing that really bugs me, and I think this is something that you recently posted on too, is the large sauce bowls. They, they just drive me nuts.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:32:45]:
Right.

Rachel Jackson [00:32:45]:
Because there's no way first off there, they, sometimes they seem to be as big as whatever they're supposed to go on. And it just seems like there's, it's so unlikely for there to be actually the demand for that much of whatever that sauce is. And then they're so open and then before long a tomato is floating in it and, you know, and it starts to look unappealing and you just know that's it for that sauce.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:33:07]:
Right.

Rachel Jackson [00:33:08]:
So I wish, I mean, maybe that's not behind the scenes because it's right there, but someone is deciding to put it in that bowl and I would much rather have some sort of like squeeze bottle or just something really tiny that is maybe replenished more often. And I think that's, that's a big thing too is, you know, and I know there's a balance of staff and where the energy is going, but I really am so much happier from a food waste perspective and also from someone who just likes to eat things that are fresh, to see smaller serving dishes that are refreshed more often than larger pans. And if you have more in the back, you have more that you can potentially donate if you don't set it out. Because you usually cannot donate food that's already been set out for people. So, so, so, yeah, back to containers and the size. I think that's just so important.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:33:55]:
Right? Yeah. And it's like if you're having a huge convention, you're not going to tell everybody, hey, bring your Tupperware with you and we're going to pack you up and send you home with some leftovers. But if it's a local event, right. Or it's your friend's, you know, bat mitzvah or wedding reception or something like that, 100% do that, right? Yeah.

Rachel Jackson [00:34:13]:
And I would even say, like Even for that massive event, if people are shutting down and they. The organizer, organizers are shutting down, and they want to drop a couple containers at the. On each buffet table, people get that signal really fast and, like, rush in. So, you know, I. I think it can even work there. And then it's less for them to clean up, too, right?

Tracy Stuckrath [00:34:35]:
Yep. Well, it's just like that mentality of you put it in the break room, and, I mean, it's gone in 10 minutes. Right. Someone puts free food in the break room and. And everybody comes and eats it. Yeah.

Rachel Jackson [00:34:44]:
Yeah.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:34:46]:
So what. In your work with restaurants, you know, teaching them, I mean, what is one thing that you've recognized or been surprised with by them recognizing their waste?

Rachel Jackson [00:34:57]:
I think so. Restaurants are tricky because there certainly is a lot of waste that comes from restaurants. But a lot of my work with restaurants has been more. I'm trying to learn from them, and I'm trying to help what they know about food reach consumers and to let them model and talk about some of the ways they reduce food waste. So this has been just asking, like, what dishes on your menu really show how we can reduce food waste? And sometimes giving them a nudge to promote that more. So during. There's a restaurant here in D.C. called Brightwood Pizza that is connected to a cider maker, Ancho, which is national.

Rachel Jackson [00:35:35]:
So I'm not sure if folks have heard of them, but they are so thoughtful and really interested in sustainability and reducing waste. And so what they did one year for Food Waste Prevention Week is they put a little star on every dish on the menu that repurposed ingredients from something else.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:35:50]:
And then they just kind of told.

Rachel Jackson [00:35:51]:
That story and were very transparent about it. The idea being that consumers can see this restaurant is doing this. Wow, I can do it, too. And in some years, we've had a number of restaurants across the city feature special dishes that they prepared for the week to kind of show how you could do this. Ranging from a restaurant that saved their unsold ginger scones and made bread pudding as a special during the week. And bread pudding is such a. It's a workhorse when it comes to reducing food waste. I mean, you can do it savory, you can do it sweet.

Rachel Jackson [00:36:23]:
And. And just having them say, like, hey, we made this. You can do this kind of thing, too. It's actually quite easy. So that. That's what a lot of it has looked like.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:36:31]:
There's. And that you telling that story reminded me of the Slow Food Festival in Denver. I want to say it's probably 10 years ago. And they. Stephen Satterfield from Atlanta was actually the chef that, like, I think, instituted this. But for all the cooking demos that they did through the year, through the three or four day festival, they had a surplus dinner. And so all the chefs got together, and the last event was food made from all the surplus from those cooking demons demonstrations. And it was so good.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:37:05]:
Yeah, it was so fun. And you couldn't have. I mean, and plates were just coming out with all these different things. And. And you had to pay. You paid to get there, to get to. Into that dinner. But it was really cool just to see how that those chefs then use their brains as saying, okay, I've got beans from this and cilantro from this, you know, whatever, and made these fabulous dishes.

Rachel Jackson [00:37:28]:
I love that so, so much.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:37:29]:
Yeah, that.

Rachel Jackson [00:37:30]:
That is exactly the spirit of what we're talking about. It's wonderful. And it reminds me of a restaurant that has. They kind of reformatted during the pandemic, but now they're kind of like a grocery store, specialty grocery store. But they would have on. They were at the top US place, and on Sunday nights, which was a slower night for them, they would have an all you can eat that was just them kind of refreshing their kitchen for the week. So it was a deal for the customers, and it helped them make use of everything. And it was a lot of very tiny bites.

Rachel Jackson [00:38:04]:
Right. Try a lot of different things. You could help them make space in their fridges. They saved money. We saved money. It was great. That's an incentive to go out. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:38:16]:
Did they get a lot of takers on? I mean, was it busy?

Rachel Jackson [00:38:19]:
Yeah, I went a couple times, and it, you know, it was kind of like it felt like normal restaurant traffic. I wouldn't say it felt like they were overwhelmed, but it was. It was nice.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:38:28]:
Yeah. And it's just a fresh idea. And I love that because you know that your. Your new shipment is coming tomorrow, and you have this stuff that you want to get rid of and. Or utilize. Not get rid of, but utilize in a way. And. Oh, I love that idea.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:38:43]:
Both of those different things. It'd be interesting to see how, hey, at one of my events that I'm producing, I'm like, okay, we've done these events all week long. How can we do. I want chef to be creative and talk about this at the end. I think it depends on what kind of event you're having, but, yeah, that's pretty cool. Okay, so I have one. I want to take this back to the consumer because I know you're really focused on consumers, but there's been this big discussion for the last couple of years on that Used by. Oh yes, yes.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:39:13]:
Where's my question that I have the used buy in the Best Buy dates and that contributes to a lot of waste in our kitchens at home. Right. And can you talk a little bit about that? And then I have a couple of rapid fire questions that I want to ask you.

Rachel Jackson [00:39:28]:
Yeah, yeah. Use by and best by dates are very confusing and very frustrating and absolutely lead to waste. I have, I go pretty in depth on them. On Eater Toss, there's a whole sub page called behind the Date Label where I have articles on like some specific foods that go into kind of the nuance with things that you might feel more funny about using past their date. And I in, I think published in May, I did a story for the Washington post with like 5 overall myths about day labels. And so I'll go over it briefly. But those, those are places where you can get more. Yes, they definitely lead to waste.

Rachel Jackson [00:40:02]:
And I find there are two kinds of people, those who disregard them entirely, which is understandable, but I think not quite right. And then those who like view them as the law and do not want to eat anything that's passed its label. They are not regulated. So there is no official definition of Best Buy versus used by. That said, generally companies are using Best Buy when it's a quality issue. So if you're seeing Best Buy, you're usually okay to just taste it or even before you taste it, look at it, smell it. Oils break down fast, so very foods with a lot of oil in them will tend to go off faster even if they're shelf stable. So you might smell a kind of chemically smell if that's starting to, to go off.

Rachel Jackson [00:40:48]:
And, but if, if you smell it, look at it, taste it and it still is okay and it's a shelf stable food, go ahead and eat it, it's still okay. The foods to be more careful with tend to be the same foods that people who are pregnant are told to avoid. So they're, they're fine for healthy adults, but they're just a little friendlier to things that can make us sick and tend to go bad faster. So the food in that category and you're seeing use by on it, that's where you do want to be more careful.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:41:16]:
Okay, well, and that, yeah, because I mean milk, you know, when milk is bad you smell right. It's horrible when you open the thing. Right. Like, but mold on cheese, I mean, cheese is already mold. Right. But what do you do?

Rachel Jackson [00:41:28]:
Yeah, so that depends on the cheese.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:41:30]:
By a date by thing. But yeah. Right.

Rachel Jackson [00:41:33]:
Yeah. So yeah, it can. So I've had so much to say about cheese. If it's a soft cheese, first off, you want to be more careful with it generally as it gets older. That is in that category of, you know, food that we're pregnant or told to be careful with. And that's more for on the bacteria side. But if it's a soft cheese and there's mold on it, that mold is not necessarily a mold that was involved in making the cheese. It could be a mold that you don't want to eat.

Rachel Jackson [00:41:57]:
And so if you know it's not supposed to be there and it's a soft cheese, the. The mold could have penetrated further than you could see. And so that is a toss or ideally a compost. If it's a hard cheese, then the mold's gonna have a harder time you know, spreading. So then you just cut an inch around that and the rest of it is fine. And that, you know, that's gonna depend on the situation. When I've had cheese get moldy like a hard cheese get moldy, sometimes it's like the whole thing. And that is, you know, beyond salvaging.

Rachel Jackson [00:42:24]:
I'm not going to try too hard on that.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:42:26]:
Right.

Rachel Jackson [00:42:26]:
The other thing, you know, with cheese that I like to flag is that there are some normal cheese things that can happen that can resemble mold. And so just to be aware of those, and a way you can check on that is these things that can be kind of like crystals that can form which are kind of cool and on eater toss, you'll see kind of a side by side of crystals and white mold. But if you're not sure it's okay in your. And you're not like hypersensitive with allergies, because anybody with allergies does, like serious allergies needs to be a little more careful around mold. But you can touch it, and if it's gritty crystal and if it feels like nothing or very soft, then mold and I wouldn't touch a lot of it, I wouldn't interact with it too much. But that is especially if you're thinking this is probably crystals. Let me just try. Or you can like drag a knife across it and see if you get kind of a gritty response or not.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:43:17]:
So.

Rachel Jackson [00:43:18]:
And then the other thing you can happen, you can have with cheese is tell me if this is too loud and I'll Pause. But we've got another ambulance. So it. Because obviously it does have a high fat content. It can go rancid. So I've had some parmesan cheese that looked fine but just smelled very strange and chemically. And obviously I don't want to eat that either. And so ever since that happened to me, I've been a little bit more on top of using that shredded parmesan faster.

Rachel Jackson [00:43:43]:
And those, those boxes are. Those containers will actually say use within three to five days, which to me seems really conservative. And I'm definitely waiting longer than that. But there is that risk if you wait too long that it can just taste funny.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:43:55]:
Interesting. Okay. Yeah. So much to learn. And, and, but it makes you feel better. I mean, I'm. I'll. You like.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:44:02]:
I made applesauce a couple weeks ago. I mean and my apples were a little bit soft because I didn't have time to get them do the applesauce right away. But when I put them and cook them down and put them in the Vitamix, nobody knows the difference. Right. They were still. It still has the same flavor. Yeah, it's still just as good.

Rachel Jackson [00:44:18]:
Yeah.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:44:19]:
Okay. Couple of rapid fire questions before we close out here. Yeah. What's one thing you wish everyone would stop throwing away?

Rachel Jackson [00:44:27]:
Oh, small amounts of leftovers. Because you can add them together into like a quick workday lunch.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:44:32]:
Okay. Love that idea. What's the sketchiest thing you've ever eaten? After checking it out with Eater Toss and live to tell the tale.

Rachel Jackson [00:44:43]:
I don't know if this is sketchy weird. Can I sub weird for sketchy. Is that allowed? Sure.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:44:48]:
Yeah.

Rachel Jackson [00:44:49]:
Okay, well, I'll saute salads.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:44:51]:
Okay.

Rachel Jackson [00:44:52]:
I don't like leftover salad and.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:44:54]:
Right.

Rachel Jackson [00:44:55]:
And sometimes it creeps me out a little bit. So I will cook it like in a saute pan. And this has like not always the most amazing results. Like, sometimes it's great. Sometimes it's like, oh, that was a little too fibrous and but it's also, it's still like a fast lunch and I'm eating greens and it's better than leftover salad.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:45:14]:
Well, I'm assuming in the salad was pre dressed that Right. It wasn't just fresh.

Rachel Jackson [00:45:19]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I wouldn't do that with like. Yeah, like greens that don't have dressing on them. But yeah, like, I mean the dressing kind of like starts to degrade them pretty fast. I really like that and I. But I don't want it to go to waste and so I will cook it.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:45:30]:
Okay. That Is definitely weird. Would not have said on the outweigh. What would your fridge say about you if it could talk?

Rachel Jackson [00:45:37]:
I think my fridge would have some questions about some things that have been in the back of it for a while sometimes are things where, because I do like the science aspect, I'm like, I'm just gonna see what happens, and so I'll hold on to some things and just kind of watch them.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:45:51]:
That McDonald's hamburger, somebody put in the closet and found it, like, decades ago. Not like that.

Rachel Jackson [00:45:56]:
No. Okay. Yeah. But I have held onto some eggs for a while, and I'm not gonna, I'm not planning to eat them, but I'm just really curious to see what happens.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:46:03]:
Okay. Yeah. Science project.

Rachel Jackson [00:46:06]:
Yeah.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:46:06]:
Yeah.

Rachel Jackson [00:46:07]:
That would be the question. What are your science projects doing in my, in my space?

Tracy Stuckrath [00:46:11]:
All right. What is always in your fridge?

Rachel Jackson [00:46:14]:
One thing that I try to stock is apples, and because they will keep for a very long time in the fridge, and then there's always fresh fruit. And because I do try to, you know, reduce those trips to the store when I can, but I also want to make sure that my family is eating, you know, fresh fruits and vegetables. I like apples because they're like, they're hearty. They store for a while, and they're like, good for you. Fruit.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:46:41]:
All right, on a tangent on that, how do you keep berries fresh? Okay. I'm glad it's not that easy. From your laugh.

Rachel Jackson [00:46:48]:
Yeah, I have a lot of thoughts on that and a lot of feelings because, like, you'll see if you, you don't have to get too deep on Eater Toss to see a series of articles I did based on partially on my, my frustration with berry storage hacks. I, I, I don't like them. Berries, I think people need to just understand are perishable, and there are a lot of tricks out there, and maybe you've tried one of those tricks, and maybe it did something that seemed like it worked. Like, that is possible, and there are reasons why it, it makes sense. But it may not be the hack that you tried. I can get more specific than that. Like, first off, any hack involving blueberries, I'm suspicious of, because blueberries can last a long time. So you, you could have just gotten lucky.

Rachel Jackson [00:47:30]:
Blueberries have a thicker skin, and so they just don't go bad as fast unless there happens to be a fungal spore that was in your package. That may not have been obvious to you when you bought home. Now, you may have seen hacks saying, like, you know, rinse them in Vinegar, those from talking to scientists, their take is that vinegar is not strong enough to do enough and that when you're doing that wash before you store them, you, you could spread around other things. So you could be making the problem worse. If you're doing that wash and then not drying them thoroughly, which is hard to do with berries because they have a lot of crevices, then you're storing them with more water on them. And what likes water but microorganisms? And so if you put them in an airtight container, they are not able to breathe and they will ferment faster. And sometimes that might, it might seem like they're lasting longer because they won't lose water as fast as they would in the grocery store container. But they're gonna start to taste fermenty and you're gonna see liquid like accumulating on the sides of the jar and it's just gonna get kind of gross.

Rachel Jackson [00:48:34]:
So. And the berries like you could get, you could buy berries at the store that last a very long time just because they happen to have been lucky berries. And maybe they're super fresh, maybe they were packaged in pristine conditions and nothing stray landed on them. That was problematic. And that's great. And that happens sometimes. Other times there is some kind of a spore there that's going to spell some trouble for you. And they're thin skinned fruit that just doesn't last long, I can tell you.

Rachel Jackson [00:48:59]:
So, so with all that disclaimer, and I'm sorry to go on for it, I just, I always see these hacks in my feeds and I'm like, no, I don't want people to spend their time on that. And. But what you can do, let's say like you've gone berry picking, you have a lot of berries and you want to do what you absolutely can to help them last a little bit longer. You can store them in something that's almost airtight so that, so the air can go in and out so they don't suffocate and that will slow down their breathing because breast produce is alive and breathing. And if we can slow that down, then that'll last longer. And it will also trap humidity so they don't dry out. So that way you're allowing for a little bit of airflow, but you're not letting the humidity escape and you're still slowing down their breathing.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:49:41]:
Okay, thank you.

Rachel Jackson [00:49:43]:
All right. That was a longer answer than you wanted.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:49:45]:
No, no, that's okay. And, and like I went and just before our berry farm closed down for the season. Yeah. We went and bought a flat of 12 pints and I just plop them in the freezer like that. Right. And then, yeah, take them out, don't clean them. I mean, they even say, don't clean them before you put them in the freezer. Clean them, put them in the freezer as is.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:50:04]:
And then when you want them, take them out and clean them and eat them that way. So. Yeah, because I want to last my. I want my nor. I want my regular ones to last me as long as possible.

Rachel Jackson [00:50:14]:
Yeah. Oh, and frozen berries are just such a delight. Yes. So, like, I love eating them. Just like little popsicles.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:50:22]:
Exactly. Especially blueberries.

Rachel Jackson [00:50:24]:
Yeah. Yeah. Particularly blueberries. I'm not sure frozen raspberries, but yeah.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:50:27]:
Yeah. All right, everybody. Thank you so much, Rachel. I really appreciate you being here and sharing your information. Here is her LinkedIn. You can connect with her on LinkedIn and then on eat or toss.com and you like, like tons of photos on there, like the brown spots and avocados and the sweet potato thing. And I just think there's so many such good information there. So thank you so much for being that inquisitive person to help us all eat.

Rachel Jackson [00:50:55]:
Yeah, yeah. Thanks so much for having me. And I. If anybody is on your toss, I would also encourage you to subscribe and then you'll get regular emails from me, which is an easy way to submit questions. You can respond to to my newsletter with an image or any questions you have. I also have a portion of the website where you can fill out a form, upload a photo of anything you encounter, and you're not sure about. A lot of the photos on the site come from. That are reader submitted or come from reader questions, so.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:51:20]:
Oh, that's cool.

Rachel Jackson [00:51:21]:
I love when people engage that way. And then I know what people are concerned about out in the wilds of their kitchens, which are such interesting places.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:51:29]:
Yeah, exactly. I'm like, oh, okay, do I toss? Yeah, no, I love that. That I can just reply to your email and find the answer. Thank you.

Rachel Jackson [00:51:37]:
Yeah.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:51:37]:
Okay. All right, everybody. Well, next week I have two episodes. I've got Marion Nestle on Tuesday. Very special episode on that. I know. I'm so excited. And we're gonna talk about nutrition and policy and things like that.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:51:53]:
And then on Wednesday, I have got Leanne Mandelbaum and Gwen Smith who are talking about the food. The airline food allergy guide that they've put together on. If you've got food allergies, you can pay attention to what airlines do the best on feeding you with food allergies, so. And then talking about food waste again on the 20th. So I'm excited. Rachel, thank you so much. This is a very, very important topic that we all need to do because actually the statistic is that 40% of our food in the US is wasted. And a lot of that comes from our homes.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:52:27]:
Right?

Rachel Jackson [00:52:28]:
Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:52:30]:
So I did put the link of Food Waste Prevention Week up on in the chat, so pay attention to that so you can join it and participate next year.

Rachel Jackson [00:52:38]:
Yeah, please do. Thanks so much for having me. This was such a fun conversation.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:52:41]:
You're welcome. And stay with me for one second after this, everybody. Until next week. Stay safe and eat well. Thanks. Thanks for listening to the Eating at a Meeting podcast where every day meal matters. I'm Tracy Stuckrat, your food and beverage inclusion expert. Call me and let's get started right now on creating safe and inclusive food and beverage experiences for your customers, your employees, and your communities.

Tracy Stuckrath [00:53:09]:
Share the podcast with your friends and colleagues at our Eating at a Meeting Facebook page and on all podcast platforms. To learn more about me and receive valuable information, go to tracystuckrath.com and if you'd like more information on how to feed engagement, nourish inclusion, and bolster your bottom line, then visit Eating at a Meeting dot.