The act of cooking often involves throwing food away. The peel of a sweet potato, the seed of an avocado, a less-than-fresh lettuce leaf you toss in the trash...
That adds up. Cincinnatians sent more than 25 million pounds of food to the landfill in 2021, where it produced climate-warming methane emissions and didn't feed anyone, according to the city.
A group of local and national leaders are meeting in Cincinnati Wednesday to discuss solutions at the 2025 Wasted Food Summit.
Keynote speaker Chef Alejandra Schrader talked with WVXU ahead of the event about how to make a difference in the kitchen. She's a former finalist on the cooking show MasterChef and current food waste activist.
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Where did your interest in food waste come from?
The topic of food waste is very close to my heart, because it's deep rooted in my own childhood. I grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, under the care of a single mother, who, despite being a professional and working really hard, had three girls to raise. So food — especially nutritious food — was not always available. In my house, nothing went to waste. If my mama roasted a chicken, she would save the bones and the carcass to make a broth. And definitely no leftovers went unused. That definitely shaped my perspective. Then most recently, as I got to work in kitchens and commercial kitchens, but also understand consumer behaviors around food, I thought, this is an opportunity for me to take action and to help other people understand, what are some of those actions that can make a difference for our planet, for our health, for our pocket.
You wrote a cookbook. It's called The Low Carbon Cookbook and Action Plan, and it's just full of that information that you touched on, on how you can reduce food waste and how you can combat climate change through cooking. What do you tell people who are maybe looking to make a change in their own kitchens?
A Venezuelan saying comes to mind, which is, ‘every grain of sand can help build a mountain.’ I like to say that to people, to make them feel empowered that they can make small changes at home. First, shop smart. Try to understand how much really you can consume within that week or two-week period before your food goes bad. But also, once you bring something home, make sure you use it. I'm a big fan of the 'shop at home' first slogan. Before you head to the market, open your cabinets, look in the back. ‘Oh, I have a can of black beans. Oh, maybe I should use that this week.’ And then lastly, try to utilize and upcycle. So, what that means is, if you buy a pineapple, when you peel the pineapple, don't throw the peel away. Make a delicious pineapple tea, like a pineapple skin tea.
I wanted to revisit something you said earlier about shopping from your kitchen. Sometimes I look at the food often tucked in the back of my fridge, and I feel a little bit of pause, like, is this safe to eat? I'm curious, how do you gauge what food you can eat and what you might need to find another use for?
I would say that we need to use our own senses the way our grandparents and great grandparents did to gauge whether the food is still good. It is a big indication when we open that container and we don't get a pleasant smell. But food lasts longer than what we think or what we have been made to believe.
What is your favorite way to incorporate food waste into your cooking?
In all honesty, my favorite way is the most environmental[ly] friendly way. And I say this because when I utilize something that normally gets thrown away in the trash — let's just say radish greens or beet greens — I am also making the most of the investment that I've made when I purchased that food ingredient. And some people say, ‘Well, I don't necessarily know how to cook that.’ The easiest way is that you would slice them maybe one inch, like wide ribbons, and you sauté them, just like you would with spinach or even kale with a little garlic, little olive oil. Then you add the beet greens to the pan, a little salt and pepper and serve them on the side of your protein.
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