#FoodWasteFriday: Freeze more to waste less
About 40% of all food produced in the United States does not get eaten. Collectively, consumers are responsible for more wasted food than farmers, grocery stores, or any other portions of the food supply chain. We know you’re hoping that science experiment in the back of the fridge disappears (or at least I am), the root veggies you sworn to cook over the weekend languish in the veggie drawer, and the spinach you buy every week but never get through - it all adds up. In fact, the average US household of four is throwing away $120 each month in uneaten food.
Purchasing frozen foods is worth considering for a couple of reasons because it can help you, your supermarket, and the whole supply chain waste less. It can also make it a little bit easier to have a healthy meal on a night when the act of cooking feels insurmountable.
Are frozen foods as nutritious as fresh foods? The scientific evidence is, pretty much. Research shows that the nutrient profiles of frozen fruits and vegetables are nearly equivalent to those of fresh produce. In fact, because they are often picked at their peak ripeness and frozen within hours of harvesting, they may in some cases have more nutrients than raw produce that travels for days and degrades in refrigerators. Frozen meat and fish are also good choices. “The technology of freezing fish has evolved to the point where it’s comparable to, if not better than, fresh fish,” explained chef Barton Seaver, who is also the director of the sustainable seafood and health initiative at Harvard’s Center for Health and the Global Environment. In fact, frozen fish is delicious, economical, nutritious, and often better for the environment. The additional travel time allowed by freezing also means the fish can be shipped by land instead of air.
The How To
If you’re going to throw something into the freezer for just a couple of days, you don’t really need to worry about how you do it (except for fresh fruits and vegetables, which usually require a quick blanch or purée beforehand). If you tend to forget what’s in the freezer, however, or are planning to leave the food in there for longer, it’s worth taking the time to follow some basic guidelines to help preserve the quality of the food.
Generally speaking, if frozen food has been thawed in the refrigerator, it’s fine to refreeze it, even if not cooked, though the quality might suffer a bit. If it was frozen raw and then cooked, you can refreeze the cooked portion. Leftovers should be frozen within three to four days. If food has been out of the refrigerator for less than two hours, it’s still okay to refreeze it.
Fruits and vegetables can be frozen if no mold, yeastiness, or slime has developed and they haven’t been left out of the refrigerator for more than six hours. Refreezing meats or seafood after thawing in water or in the microwave is not recommended unless they’ve been cooked.
Freezing Fresh Fruits and Veggies
The best way to freeze fresh vegetables is to blanch them first. Veggies need to be prepped for blanching in different ways (e.g. cutting broccoli into florets, peeling and slicing carrots, seeding and slicing peppers, trimming stems from green beans, and so on), but the general idea is to get the food into whatever form it will be eaten in.
Next, boil them for a minute or two, then immediately transfer to an ice-water bath to halt the cooking. Then after draining and drying thoroughly (wet veggies will develop frost), spread on a sheet pan, freeze, then transfer to zip-top freezer bags.
Freezing fruits is similar, but you can skip the blanching step. Note that you can freeze whole bananas in their peels. The peels will turn brown, but the fruit inside will stay bright and fresh. They can be stored for two to three months.
Leafy vegetables like lettuce and kale as well as tomatoes and other produce with high water content don't freeze well.
You can freeze fresh herbs by chopping them, mixing them with a small amount of water or olive oil and then freezing this mixture in ice cube trays. Once frozen, transfer the cubes to zip-top freezer bags.
Learn More!
Article: How to Freeze Anything by Danilo Alfaro
Book: How to Freeze: Everything You Need to Know about Freezing and Freezer Management by Carolyn Humpheries
Book: The Ice Kitchen: Fast Fresh Food to Fill Your Family and Your Freezer by Shivi Ramoutar
Guide: Food Freezing Guide by Julie Garden-Robinson, Ph.D., R.D., L.R.D., Food and Nutrition Specialist
Guide: Freezing Fruit Basics, Revised by Nancy C. Flores and Cindy Schlenker Davies
Vide: How to Prep Meats, Vegetables or Fruit for Freezing by the Food Network
Bottom line
Freezing is easy. The real challenge is remembering to use what you freeze! So many people “lose” things in the back of their freezer. One way to deal with this is to be super-organized. Another is to plan a “freezer night” every week or two so that you actually eat that container of beef stew before it is covered in ice crystals.
Food is simply too good to waste. Together we can make a major dent in what’s currently getting tossed—and put a little cash back in our wallets at the same time.
This blog post was adapted from the National Resource Defense Council
