Nearly 50 percent of fresh produce in the U.S. is thrown away before it reaches your plate, according to USDA estimates. This waste not only affects the environment but also the wallets of shoppers. The average family of four discards $1,600 in food each year, according to a study published in the International Journal on Food System Dynamics.
How can you stop wasting and start saving? Follow these tips to ensure that the fresh produce you buy is used to its full potential.
Plan Your Shopping
Plan meals to create a shopping list of ingredients with everything you need for the week. Don’t stray in the store. Select items that can be used in multiple recipes. Be sure to also consider your eating-out habits; if you typically grab a few meals out, consider buying a mix of fresh and frozen items to leave some flexibility in your seven-day plan.
Organize Fresh Produce
When it comes to using fresh items, your policy should be first in, first out. Organize fresh produce in the order you bought them. Keep items that need to be consumed first in sight and place the fresher ones at the back, moving food forward as you go. This will help ensure that items aren’t forgotten at the back.
Reuse and Repurpose
The tomato slices from today can be tomorrow’s tomato soup. Just throw leftover tomatoes and a few other ingredients into a high-powered blender container. For example, with a Vitamix A3500 Ascent Series blender, you can create soup without using the stove, utilizing the Hot Soup program to blend and heat the ingredients.
Or, if you have potato, carrot, or zucchini peels available, store them in a freezer bag to easily make homemade vegetable broth later. Add the veggies to boiling water and let them simmer on the stove. Strain, season, and incorporate the versatile broth into recipes like risotto, curry, and vegetable soup.
Making guacamole or avocado toast? The leftover avocado darkens quickly, so it’s good to have a plan to use it right away. How about whipping up a creamy green smoothie bowl? 
Or, if you’re not hungry, make a natural facial mask to tighten pores and firm the skin.
Use leftover chicken to add protein to a salad or stir-fry, or finely chop and toast leftover beef to add extra texture and flavor to pastas and soups.
Count on Technological Support
The latest smart kitchen gadgets can help you limit waste. Ask Alexa what you can make with staple ingredients, or try a tool like the Vitamix Perfect Blend Smart Scale & Interactive Recipe App, which allows users to input available items and find blended recipes using exactly those ingredients. It even adjusts any recipe to the exact amount of the least available ingredient.
Complete the Cycle
Even after taking steps to reduce food waste, you will likely still have some items that need to be discarded. Create a compost bin where you can throw old food scraps to give them new life as fertilizer for your garden.
Source: StatePoint