Get Food Smart
FOOD FOR THOUGHT Get Food Smart shares the truth about freshness guidelines
Reducing food waste will help the County meet its recycling goal, but how can that be done? Early in 2021, the Sustainable Organic Materials Management Group held a series of meetings that for the first time brought together various County groups with diverse views on waste and food to discuss the issue. The Division of Solid Waste Management and REPLENISH both took part in the meetings, and the “Get Food Smart” campaign was born. The goal of “Get Food Smart” is not only to educate the public about freshness guidelines so that they know what is safe to eat or donate, but to teach people how to extend the life of foods by freezing, cooking, or otherwise preserving. To give people ideas for how to incorporate canned or other prepackaged foods into their meals, REPLENISH shares easy-to-make recipes that use pantry staples. This education is being done through a collaboration with municipal coordinators, and through a social media public awareness campaign, launched in 2022. “There is obviously a need for this campaign: We get a lot of questions, so we know that people are confused,” said Tolmachewich. “We’re working
is thrown w er b ech Middesex Count resident. 500 pounds of food
Food waste accounts for 21 - 22% of the municipal solid waste stream here in the County. Carole Tolmachewich Principal Planner, Solid Waste Management
to educate them because it’s a new message. It’s about reeducating everyone, including in our schools so that we can teach the young ones the correct information right from the start.” “I’ve been with the County for 30 years, and Jen just about as long; this really brought us together to work on a project where we hadn’t had too much opportunity to collaborate in the past.” Visit middlesexcountynj.gov/getfoodsmart to learn more about the “Get Food Smart” campaign and how you can help reduce food waste.
“Sell By.” “Best By.” “Use By.” We are all used to seeing these words, accompanied by a month and year, on food items including packaged and canned goods. But what do these dates mean? Are they actually the cut-off date for when an item is safe to eat? As it turns out: No. In fact, those dates, known as “freshness guidelines,” are just that – guidelines. Created by food manufacturers, these freshness guidelines, and the confusion surrounding them, cause a substantial amount of food waste in the United States, including right here in Middlesex County. “The reality is that food date labels are ONLY mandated for shellfish, dairy products, and baby formula, and should be followed for those three categories. All other sell by, best by, and use by dates are manufacturer-suggested guidelines. The food is safe beyond those dates,” said Jennifer Apostol, director of REPLENISH. “Public perception is that any food past the sell by, best by, or use by date is no longer safe to eat. This is simply not true.” With food insecurity a major issue nationwide and here in Middlesex County, it is crucial that people understand the true meaning of sell by, best by, and use by dates, in order to reduce food waste.
And food insecurity is not the only reason food waste is an issue for Middlesex County. New Jersey requires every county to develop a solid waste management plan that includes goals for source reduction and recycling. According to Carole Tolmachewich, principal planner in the Division of Solid Waste Management within the Department of Public Safety & Health, as a County, we have never met our municipal solid waste recycling goal. Paper is the biggest component of solid waste, but the County has successful recycling programs in place to deal with paper and cardboard. The next largest component is food waste which has been more challenging to manage. “Food waste accounts for approximately 21% to 22% of the municipal solid waste stream here in the County,” said Tolmachewich. “In fact, 500 pounds of food is thrown away every year by each Middlesex County resident.”
of the entire U.S. food supp is wsted. 30 - 40%
63 miion tons of wsted food ws generted in 2018 , just in the U.S.
SCAN FOR REDUCING FOOD WASTE TIPS!
10 Your Middlesex | 2023 Issue 1
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