Does every trip to the grocery store feel a bit more stressful lately? Now more than ever, I’ve doubled down on strategies to help me stretch my grocery dollars and reduce food waste while still filling half my plate with fruits and vegetables.
For this article, I’m happy to share some of these strategies with you.
Let me start with a confession. I do not clip coupons, scan flyers, or shop at multiple stores to get the best deal. I have tried but those habits never stick. Not every strategy suits every person. As you read through my favourite strategies, pick and choose what might work for you and adjust as needed.
1. Eat Seasonally
For most of my cooking, I start with fresh Canadian produce that’s in season. Seasonal fruits and veggies typically cost less and taste better. Cooking with the calendar, also creates natural variation in meal planning. Think squash in the fall and fresh greens in the spring. Right now, I can’t wait for our first rhubarb crisp and fresh, local asparagus.
Check the Half Your Plate Seasonal Guide for what’s in season.
This doesn’t mean I avoid fresh food that’s out of season altogether. It just means I buy it less often. I also choose frozen and canned fruits and vegetables to help keep half my plate loaded with veggies. This saves money and reduces the risk of wasting fresh produce since they’re easier to store. And, because they’re picked and packed at peak freshness, they’re just as nutritious as fresh.
2. Buy only what you need
One of the biggest shifts I’ve made in the last five years is to buy only what I need.
It sounds simple, but I was surprised how much I bought out of habit instead of actual need. For example, I would buy “staples” like tomatoes, cucumbers and sour cream every time I went shopping. Sadly, these ended up in the compost more than I’d like to admit.
Now, I am much more diligent about asking “what will we actually eat this week” while meal planning and writing a grocery list.
Read More: How Meal Planning Can Help You Save Money
This mind shift also means I’m more likely to walk past “buy more and save” deals in stores. It’s tempting to pick up a pack of three cucumbers only slightly more money than a single cucumber. But instead of calculating the cost per unit in my head and thinking about the deal that I’m passing up, I think about what I save by buying only what I need.
If it ends up in the compost, it was never a bargain.
For more ideas read: Waste Less
3.Manage your fridge, pantry and freezer like a pro
Keeping foods in the right place matters. Here is a helpful storage guide for fresh fruits and vegetables. Half Your Plate Storage Guide
Two other strategies I use to manage my food and keep waste at a minimum are:
First In, First Out (FIFO):
When unpacking groceries, I move older items to the front so they are used first. I also look at the Best Before Dates of pantry items to see what needs to be used soon.
Eat Me First:
To get my family on board, I sometimes create Eat Me First reminders for foods that need to be used. Sometimes it’s a bin with odds and sods and sometimes it’s a simple sticky note on a container.
This idea also helps guide my meal planning by reminding me to use the most perishable foods first. For example, since a head of romaine lasts longer than cucumbers, making a cucumber salad before a Caesar salad makes sense.
4. Love your leftovers and give them a second life
I love leftovers. They’re a great time saver and take the guess work out of “what’s for dinner”. In fact, I often cook extra on purpose to freeze or to start prepping the next day’s meal. For example, if we’re having roast chicken, I’ll make enough so I can make my families’ favourite Chicken Corn Chowder the next day.
Leftovers don’t have to mean eating the same meal over and over. Quite often they can become something entirely new. Cooked vegetables can go into eggs, soups, or grain bowls. Ripe fruit can be blended into smoothies or baked into muffins. Odds and ends can come together in a stir-fry, egg dish or soup.
Find more inspiration here: Leftover Magic
5. Explore Food Apps
Recently, I have been exploring grocery apps like FoodHero (Sobeys Inc.) and Flashfood (Loblaws). These apps offer in-store pickup of food boxes with deep discounts on items nearing their end. I have gotten some great deals, but you must be able to use or process the items right away.
Subscriptions to services like OddBunch that offer rescued groceries are also popping up across Canada. If you enjoy cooking with new ingredients and have flexible meal plans these can offer great savings and variety while helping to divert imperfect foods from the landfill.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, it’s important to remember the goal is not to do everything perfectly. It is to do a little better, a little more often, in a way that fits your life.
You do not have to do everything to make a difference. A few simple habits, practiced consistently, can go a long way toward saving money and wasting less food.
And that is a win.
Getty Stewart is a professional home economist sharing tips and recipes for enjoying local, seasonal homemade food at www.gettystewart.com.
