FOOD WASTAGE has become an environmental issue. The numbers are staggering. About one-third of food production for human consumption is scrapped. In 2022, this amounted to a worldwide waste of 1.3 billion tons of uneaten food worth $1 trillion. Compare this to Philippines’ 2022 GDP of $404 billion. The waste is even more staggering in the face of hunger in the world.
We’re not sure though how leftovers are calculated. Is the “trashed” food from a fast-food chain counted as waste, even when some collector picks it up to be eaten, or even resold?
What about “reconstituted” leftovers that are not really scrapped? The mantra of conservationists to “reuse, reduce, recycle” should also apply to food, not just toothbrushes. As a post-holiday reflection on food waste (as well as expanded waistlines), we should be mindful of our cultural definition of leftovers.
Local cuisine is hospitable to rescuing uneaten portions for further delight. Is this a function of economic status where the idea of wasted food seems obscene? Or maybe it’s just culinary creativity.
Certain recipes specify leftovers as main ingredients like the lechon paksiw (roast pig scraps stewed in vinegar). For this dish, only a leftover version exists as one cannot go straight to the saucy concoction without going through the roasted stage first. Even the inferior lechon with a chewy and tough skin achieves redemption in its recycled state. And this even has two versions using plain vinegar or the former sauce for marination.
Holiday leftovers, which by today can more properly be described as “remains,” challenge the homemaker. What does she do with all leftovers from guests who did not show up, perishable gifts, and assorted meals from Christmas Past (a culinary version of Uncle Scrooge’s ghosts)?
While clothes can be consigned to garage sales or businesses specializing in “previously owned” attire, perishable stuff like food can only be given away before their “best before” date. Aside from the usual second versions of a particular viand, here are some tips from someone who prefers to be considered an authority on behavioral economics rather than housekeeping mentorship.
Put leftovers in different containers with expiry dates. This categorizes the leftovers by their shelf life, the last day of which is defined as when the meat starts to host a colony of microbes and give off a distinct smell. Clearly, the longer lasting leftovers (like ham and cheese) can be consumed later, maybe at Easter.
Give it away. Forwarding food like text messages and fake news that one has received is considered recycling. Leftovers do not fall in this category, and the farther away from freshness and the Version 1 state, the more difficult it is to give away food. Especially to one who knows your home address. The key factor in this donation is edibility. The older food is in terms of carbon dating, the more embarrassing it is for the donor to unload it to anyone. (Yes, even garbage collectors have their standards.)
The tale of the wandering fruitcake is instructive. Because of the alcoholic content, this gift is often recycled (pay it forward) more than once and beyond one calendar year. There must be a “fruit cake” day declared where one is obliged to keep and eat the already moldy remains and declare it at the end of its earthly journey.
Leftovers are not limited to food.
If consumption rises at an unusually high rate during the holiday season, clearly a lot of it goes beyond normal use. How many of those umbrellas, stationery, and candy trays can be used by the gift recipient? He must give them away too. The desk diary is a special case. It seems to have dropped o- the corporate giveaway list. One must buy it at a bookstore since phones seem to have replaced the appointment book that records passwords, phone numbers, birthdays, and lunch dates.
Cash as a received gift is an exception. There is no leftover or recycling challenge involved, only ethical problems depending on the source. And is there really a problem of expiry dates and getting too much of it? (Where’s the nearest laundry?)
Still, the best leftovers deal with the immaterial. Warm memories of reunions and friendships are never scrapped. Photos of holiday celebrations are posted and reposted. And they never age… until compared to previous years’ posts.
Tony Samson is chairman and CEO of TOUCH xda
