How we relate to food is one of the strongest measures of our cultural heritage and our lived experience. The COVID Pandemic has changed our relationship with food. Our response is predicated on our circumstance, our experience and lessons learned through necessity and intention. I used to believe that I was learning and implementing new ideas de novo. Now I recognize how much I have been influenced by me grandparents, parents and other family. I was unconsciously the product of my inherited experiences. The pandemic has provided time for the Great Reflection and here is one of mine.
My grandmother Delores Lawler was born in 1917. She was a teenager during the Great Depression. She told me about living on onions as the only available food. It changes you forever if you have been hungry without hope of being fed. My grandfather Robert Lawler was trained to be a boiler maker. Just as he finished his apprenticeship, the diesel engine replaced the steam engine and boilermakers were no longer needed. He join Roosevelt's New Deal Civilian Conservation Corp and be a cook. Later they owned several small cafes. I lived with them during my childhood. Bob was the fry cook and Delores was the pie maker. My best timeline for my childhood follows the different small stores and restaurants owned by my grandparents.
I did not recognize how hard or unusual it was to successfully operate a small business. It was just how we lived. It was a small margin for profit. They were tethered to their business. They staffed it everyday it was open. To take a vacation, they closed the business.
So I learned food safety in a restaurant. Delores was a frugal operator. It takes planning to avoid wasting food and cutting into your profit margin...terms Delores never used. Then I learned more about food safety as a veterinarian. I'll bet most people are not aware that veterinarians play a key role in food safety.
My background and training now pushes up against labels and dates and generational pressure. Millennials mock their parents for having expired salad dressings in their fridge. My daughter just mentioned that she has so much canned food that she bought in pandemic panic and now it is probably too old to use. This comment inspired this blog post. The main concept is understanding what expiration and best by dates mean. Essentially, you need to understand if the food "wholesome" or unsafe. Otherwise, it may not be at the peak of freshness, but it won't make you sick, so the taste test is the decision maker. I thrive on variety, but I want to avoid waste for both economic and sustainability reasons. OK, yes, I also been hungry and feel more comfortable with having a well stocked food supply available. My disaster preparedness training has only reinforced this.
1. Regarding canned foods from the excellent website Still Tasty :
As the U.S. Department of Agriculture points out, “Best By,” “Best if Used By,” and “Use By” dates on commercially packaged foods sold in the United States are not food safety dates. Provided voluntarily by manufacturers, they are an indication of how long products are likely to remain at peak quality.
After the “best by” date has passed, the canned tuna’s texture, color and flavor will gradually deteriorate. So from a sheer quality standpoint, the sooner you eat the tuna, the better.
But from a safety perspective, you can consume it well beyond the “best by” date — in fact, unopened shelf-stable commercially canned foods will keep safe indefinitely (assuming they remain properly stored and undamaged), according to the USDA.
Just be sure to store your tuna and other shelf-stable canned goods in a cool, dry area and check to see that unopened cans are not leaking, rusting, bulging or severely dented. You should always throw out damaged cans, without tasting the food first.
2. Regarding condiments after opening, check out Kitchn for the list below:
BBQ Sauce: 4 months
Capers: 1 year (brined)
Horseradish: 3-4 months (prepared)
Hot Sauce: 5 years
Jam and Jelly: 1 year
Ketchup: 6 months
Mayonnaise: 2-3 months after the “Use by” or “Best by” date
Miso: 1 1/2 years
Mustard: 1 year
Olives: 1 year or date on the package (jarred or canned), 2-3 months (from the deli)
Pickles: 1 year
Pure Maple Syrup: 1 year
Relish: 1 year
Salad Dressing: 6-9 months (sold unrefrigerated), 6 months or date on package (sold refrigerated)
Salsa: 5-7 days (sold refrigerated), 1 month (sold unrefrigerated)
Soy Sauce: 2 years
Tartar Sauce: 6 months
Worcestershire Sauce: 2 years
3. Implementing food safety vigilance and avoiding waste:
Keep a Sharpie marker and dissolvable food container labels handy in your kitchen.
Record the opening date or the "real" expiration date.
Plan Inventory Turnover. Put a twice yearly inventory on your calendar. I use May and November. I toss condiments and refresh for the Holiday Season and for summer.
Make a pantry meal every week to have regular turnover for canned food and pantry staples.
If you make your own sauces or salad dressings, generally the expiration date is the same as the earliest ingredient's "real" expiration date.
Freeze foods that you buy fresh in bulk and include these in pantry cooking day. Milk, butter, cheese are items that are fine for cooking and you can extend the use by date. Don't forget to label and date. Check out this Still Tasty article
Keep your freezer full. It uses less energy when full. If you have space, freeze water to the fill space.
Avoid touching the inside of the food container with anything! A dirty spoon or finger will inoculate the food with bacteria. Treat your food containers with aseptic techniques and it will reduce spoilage. This is why you DON'T drink out of the carton.
When unpacking groceries, make it a habit to document the use or freeze by date on your calendar or use Alexa to create a reminder. I use Alexa to set a reminder "Bacon expires in 2 days." Do this when any food item goes into the frig or freezer. Try to do this especially for your most expensive foods like meat.
Avoid opening the frig and staring at the contents. Use a dry erase board to keep an EAT NEXT list for prepared meals, left overs and soon to be expired foods. I was surprise how much this helps.
Learn the best ways to store items to slow spoilage. For example, fresh herbs like parsley and cilantro can be extended by storage with cuts roots in water. Green onions can be stored in water on the counter top like a the living plant that it is. More details to optimize storage for any of your favorite foods can be determined.
This post doesn't cover everything, it is still more information than a TikTok. I hope you find these tips useful.
