June is Food Upcycle Month! Upcycling food is based on the philosophy of using all of what you have. It’s about doing more with less, and elevating all food to its highest and best use. Most of all, upcycled food is about reducing food waste. Globally, we lose around $1 trillion per year on food that is wasted or lost. Here are some ways our team integrates food upcycling into their daily lives.
Dava’s Picks: Founder and Chief Creative Officer
- The banana bites from Barnana are always on hand in my office/home/bag for those hangry moments. Made 100% from upcycled bananas with both chewy and crunchy options.
- As someone who loves to cook, my freezer is full of veggie bits I later use to make broth. This includes onion/carrot tops, celery offcuts, herbs/mushroom stems, and produce that will expire when I’m traveling.
- I love crunch in my chocolate, so the upcycled bread bits in J Street Chocolates are a fav.
- If you have a sourdough starter you have starter waste. Don’t discard. There are tons of recipes for that including these delicious crackers.
Andre’s Picks: Associate Creative Director
- I’m a big fan of The Ugly Company products. By creating yummy snacks from fruit imperfect in appearance but perfect in taste, they help reduce waste and save funny looking foods.
Caity’s Picks: Project Manager
- Fresh bread often turns stale in my home as I forget or can’t finish it all in time. Rather than toss, I reuse to make delicious, crunchy croutons, great for my homemade salads.
Suzanne’s Picks: Operations Leader
- Gather all the nearly-empty jars, bottles, and containers of mustard, aioli, fish sauce, yogurt, tahini and turn those dregs into a clean-up sauce that repurposes all of your condiments into straight-up delicious dips, dressings and marinades.
- I organize my fridge and pantry by the FIFO method, “first in, first out” placing newly bought foods at the back of the cupboard or fridge so I’m reminded to use the food in the front row first, which will ensure freshness and reduce waste.
Elaine’s Picks: Designer
- Give your plastic bags a second life. Turn those bread and produce bags into handy little trash bags or use them to scoop up your pup’s poop.
Xiaoxiao’s Picks: Junior Designer
- When I have fresh fruit that I can’t use before it spoils, I freeze it. It’s incredibly convenient for making smoothies and also eliminates the plastic packaging that comes with buying frozen fruit.
Sol’s Picks: Junior Designer
- If you have some peanut butter left at the bottom of the jar, transform it into a delicious peanut sauce. Simply add soy sauce, chili oil, sesame oil, rice vinegar, ginger and garlic. Shake it up then drizzle over your favorite Asian noodles.
Kim’s Picks: Design Intern
- Using citrus peel is an easy and sustainable way to deal with a smelly garbage disposal. Cut your peels, put them down the drain, and grind them up to deodorize and freshen your sink.
- A personal fav is adding leftover cucumber peels to water for a quick, refreshing drink.
As always, if you’d like to collaborate with us, we would love to hear from you! Please reach out to info@noise13.com to connect.
