What Does "Food Scraps" Even Mean?

Hi there, Iggy here! Last week’s recipes were all under the seasonal category, and I talked a lot about what eating seasonally meant in my first post. This week, I’m changing focus to present food scrap recipes! I got an interesting question the other day about what “food scraps” means, so I thought I’d try to clear it up with a short post.

The woman I was talking to thought food scraps meant what you scrape off your plate after a meal, and she seemed a little disgusted by the idea. I can’t blame her! Luckily, that’s not at all what I’m talking about. What you scrape off your plate is called post-consumer food waste, and that should almost always be dumped. This is different from leftovers, or what you save to put in your fridge to eat later, although leftovers can sometimes be great for repurposing (I’m thinking about those turkey sandwiches from Thanksgiving, yummm!).  

No, what I mean by food scraps is pre-consumer food waste. This is what you might generate while prepping your meal, things like potato peels, squash seeds and (in the case of Monday’s recipe) broccoli stems. A lot of pre-consumer waste is still edible and often more nutritious than the parts we normally eat. For instance, apple peels have a lot more vitamins and minerals in them than the white flesh of the apple. Maybe if we include those skins in our apple pies, we could call it a healthy meal? I wish, haha.

Now that you know a little more about what I mean by food scraps, what kind of recipes do you have that call for them? I’m posting up my recipes for broccoli stems and squash extras this week. Maybe you have a special casserole or a bone broth soup? I’d love to see them and share them for you!

P.S. I didn't have a good clear picture of food scraps to share, so I hope you enjoy this one I took the other day of a pair of sunflowers up at the FSPA gardens!

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