A New Path to the Goal of Less Wasted Food

One of the lessons that I've learned from being a mother and a spouse is that when I want to effect a change in behavior in my family members, instead of badgering them constantly, I have much more success if I give that family member some control (and responsibility) for the outcome. I've heard of parents giving the responsibility of paying the water bill to adult kids (with their own money) still living at home, in lieu of paying rent each month. Doing so incentivizes these young adults to get out of the shower faster and not leave the faucet running when brushing their teeth. So when I was handing over some of my smaller regular tasks to my daughters and husband the other week, I was delighted when one of my daughters volunteered to take on managing the leftovers in the fridge. Since (what feels like) forever, managing all things "kitchen" has been my domain, including tracking leftovers.

I say I was delighted because this is an area that both daughters could use a little nudge. This isn't a criticism of either of them. After all, neither of them have experience in tracking the foods that go into the fridge, and thus developing a sort of radar for when to use things up (because they've had me doing just that). But they do generate a lot of leftovers that linger. They're young, and they buy foods they like and think they'll eat, sometimes more stuff than they can realistically eat before spoilage. And they often have evening conflicts, resulting in some or most of their dinner getting put into the fridge. So, although I didn't plan it this way, they or one of them needed to "see" leftovers from the perspective of trying to minimize their build up.

What my daughter has done for us

First, she organized everything in the fridge. It looked great. Of course, within a few days the rest of us have made a quasi-disorganized mess of her hard work already. But she did establish a space for leftovers and bits and bobs that need using up. 

Then she began asking each of us to use these foods or plan future meals around them. She offers suggestions on how these foods can be used. 

Dovetailing with this chore, she also puts together fruit and vegetable items or dishes that we all use in making our own lunches. On days when she's working, she may just tell us what needs using and one of us at home gets these items out at noon. On days when she is at home, she may make a simple soup or pick greens for salad, to which we each add our own sandwich, cheese and crackers, etc. In doing this task, she also checks the shelf in the fridge with items that need using. If someone has leftovers, she's the point person to remind them. 

This has been extremely valuable for our family, not just in making sure we don't waste food, but also in keeping our fridge somewhat organized so we can find things again. And, I've noticed that both of my daughters are using up the foods that they've bought and forgotten about.

Among the items that need using are my many jars of pickle juice, sweet, sour, and some spicy (oops -- guilty as charged). She also found the other jar of dill relish that I couldn't find when we had our Labor Day cook-out. (I opened a second jar because I couldn't find the first.) I was able to finish off the mostly empty dill relish at a cook-out on Tuesday. Also for Tuesday, my daughter had found the chocolate patties leftover from Labor Day. So we made s'mores after the hot dogs.

If I didn't know better, I would say that we generate more food than we can consume, even with me not shopping as often. It takes one person to monitor what is staying in the fridge longer than necessary, or else we end up with a lot of waste.

My daughter's efforts are working with me, too. Earlier this week, I made a teriyaki marinade using sweet watermelon pickle liquid and sour fig pickle liquid. Another day I rinsed 2 caramel sauce bottles out with hot water to add to my afternoon coffee. And today, I rinsed out a near-empty mustard bottle with vinegar and made a bottle of mustard vinaigrette (it dressed tonight's salad). Now, I need to plan a soup that will use up that pasta cooking water from Monday.

Not only have I gained some time for other, beneficial-to-the-family chores, but I can rest assured that the leftovers are being tracked and we're wasting less food.

Wartime Make Do and Mend and Today's Savvy, Frugal Consumer

film: Ministry of Information, Great Britain, c.1943

If you just want to watch a kitchy World War 2 government film on make do and mend, scroll down to the near bottom of this post.

You may be familiar with the term "fast fashion." Fast fashion is cheaply-produced clothing that replicates the look of high-end fashion, bringing it to the masses before the trend has passed. It's often produced by under-paid employees overseas. Because fast fashion is intended to be inexpensive knock-offs of higher end clothing, it is made cheaply -- mass-produced with poorer quality workmanship and lesser quality textiles. My daughter has remarked that her fast fashion purchases typically begin to show significant wear just about the time the trend is passing. Think of cheap knits that pill terribly after a few wearings or seams that are not sewn and reinforced well that burst open far too soon. Fast fashion makes executives rich, but doesn't have the longevity that many of us hope to find in our clothing.

Enter "slow fashion." Slow fashion came about in response to fast fashion. Slow fashion garments and ones that are made well by seamstresses and tailors who are compensated well for their craft. It's typically high quality, most often using natural fibers, and sometimes locally made. Slow fashion pieces are relatively timeless in style and costs more than fast fashion pieces. 

So what does slow fashion have in common with apparel from Great Britain circa 1940?

Fast fashion is a relatively recent development in retail clothing. What most folks owned when the war broke out was comparable in quality to a lot of today's slow fashion. People owned fewer clothing items, but what they did have was made well to begin with. 

When you spend more to get better quality, there's built-in motivation to keep that item in good repair for as long as possible. This was true in the 1940s just as most of us find today. Patching, darning, stitching a small hole closed, restitching seams and hems, and replacing buttons are all easy fixes and can be done with a needle and thread. When fabric does begin to show more wear, slow fashion pieces often have enough good portions left to remake the item into something fresh. Think linen slacks become dressy shorts. Wool midi skirt becomes a just above the knee pencil skirt. Husband's oxford shirt becomes my sleeveless tunic. A favorite cotton summer dress becomes a new apron. We call this up cycling today. During WW2, this was called "make do and mend." 

Clothing was one of several categories of items on ration during the war as fabrics were prioritized for military use. Very little allowance was given for new clothing, often just enough for a new coat or one outfit. Imagine if you didn't have very many clothing items to begin with, and those items were beginning to show wear and tear. Pests like textile moths chewed tiny holes in wool clothing. Regular wear tore holes at pressure or friction points, such as elbows. Women were encouraged to mend holes and add patches to the family's clothing. When even these repairs were no longer enough to make garments look presentable, the government came to the rescue with suggestions on how to recycle clothing items into something new.

For your entertainment, here's a link to a cute film put out by the government of Great Britain in the 1940s on the topic of make do and mend. 

I not only enjoy these films for their place in history, but I also like to think about how they can help the frugal minded among  us today.

A lot of what's for sale at the mall and discount department stores would easily qualify as fast fashion -- trendy, inexpensive, and not exactly top-notch quality. Superior quality clothing is out there. It just has a price tag commensurate with the quality. However, I have found good quality clothing at prices that I'm comfortable with in thrift stores, at estate sales, in consignment shops, and in my own closet (remnants both from my own long-ago period and a  couple of pieces that were my mother's, also long ago). For the most part, these are vintage garments, with vintage or retro styling. Just as in the 1940s film, a little imaginative remake can breathe new life into the garments. 

We often think we're being so clever to up-cycle our old clothes. But the truth is, folks have been doing just this probably since people stepped out of animal skins and into clothing of woven textiles. Good clothing is costly both in time to make and money for materials. It makes very good frugal sense to get as much wear out of our clothes as we can.

I hope you enjoy the film!