What to do with the food you don't eat today

Thanksgiving used to be my favorite holiday, for no other reason than it was the one time of year that my entire Greek family would get together for a few days in Ohio and hang out. I have a stream of identical-looking cousins and uncles out here, a few aunts, some nephews, and a few second and third cousins—all of whom are loud, funny, cerebral, and opinionated. I love them so much. This year, the biggest topic of conversation around the dinner table has been “compost.” It came up because one cousin told me that my other cousin was fastidiously hiding her food scraps in the garbage by covering them in layers of paper towels, effectively creating a “trash lasagna” of vegetable ends and damp paper pulp. None of my other cousins could stop laughing about this.

However, my cousin is probably (definitely) not alone. Every Thanksgiving, about 305 million pounds of food go to waste on Thanksgiving. The consequences of this waste go beyond “not feeding people.” According to ReFED: “Production of this food generates greenhouse gas emissions of more than 1,100,000 MTCO2e or the equivalent of driving 169,000 cars for one full year. It also has a water footprint of 104,000,000,000 gallons, which is the same amount of water used by everyone in New York City for three and a half months.” And while my cousin gets points for creativity with her trash lasagna, there are a lot of other, more useful things you can do with your food waste this Thanksgiving.

Plan better, use less

This is a favorite tip from food waste collectives, but probably the hardest advice to take. Tools like the Guest Imitator will help you out, particularly because they account for the fact that different people eat different amounts, and some people want to plan for leftover meals. Another piece of advice my Dad gave me once is to thoroughly clean out your fridge and freezer a few days prior to the holiday, so that when you’re exhaustedly storing leftovers—it’s easy. You’ve already created plenty of space for them. Perhaps this seems laughable, but I have to insist to you that it works. Removing that one extra step (juggling and re-arranging items in your freezer), really does lead you to store more leftovers, in the moment, versus giving up and tossing them frustratedly in the trash.

Reuse

Some of us might love the classic “leftovers” Thanksgiving sandwich, but some of us (me) might be really sick of them. If you’re so tired of Thanksgiving food by the time the holiday is over that any subsequent meals need to thoroughly conceal their origins, here are some recipes that might help you out:

• Thanksgiving leftover pop tarts

• Thanksgiving leftovers pierogi

• Alison Roman makes holiday ham into 3 separate meals

• Crispy mashed potato & stuffing patties 

  • This one is my favorite

  • (Seriously.)

  • Make this recipe

• Stuff your leftovers in roasted peppers 

  • I make variations of this recipe based on what was on the table any given year, so think of it as vague guidance and feel comfortable experimenting freely.

• Leftovers fried rice

  • See above, and same. I usually use whatever meat product I have left. If you don’t eat meat, sub egg—or just forget about it altogether, and use what veggies you have.

• Turkey orzo soup

Donating your cooked food is tricky, if not impossible. But maybe you live near elderly family members or good friends who are going through tough times, etc. Never underestimate the value of dropping off a home-cooked meal.

Research your rot options

You can absolutely compost your leftover food at home, even the stuff that’s been cooked. If you’re composting meat, bury it. (A friend of mine once buried her entire leftover Thanksgiving turkey in her yard.) Local compost initiatives sometimes do not take pre-cooked food, so if home composting is not an option—you may need to do some Googling and asking around to find an initiative that will accept your uneaten leftovers. This year, though, I also feel happy to report that numerous states have expanded laws around organics recycling (that means “composting”) and will accept your food waste for curbside pick up. Look up the options in your city.

In conclusion, minimizing food waste at your Thanksgiving table is one of the simplest and most important things you can do today in order to reduce emissions (your food waste shouldn’t end up in the landfill, emitting methane!) and to do your small part in preventing climate change.

Don’t pass up the opportunity.

Love,

Cass