In my composting classes, one of the topics I talk a lot about is food waste. Using the NY Times graphic below, I like to “quiz” my attendees at the end of class, to see how – based on the techniques we discussed – they would dispose of the items shown if they were spoiled.
Can’t you just compost all the things?
Maybe some of these things. Fruits, vegetables, maybe the nuts, could all safely go into a compost bin. Depending on the ingredients on the canned goods (which are actually safe for dates much later than shown on the “expiration date”), you could probably add those as well.
But what about the milk?
When asked how I would dispose of spoiled milk, this one used to give me pause. That is, until I found an article last year when I was researching how to help with my tomato blossom end rot – and the suggestion was to water my tomato plants with a diluted milk solution! And guess what? I stopped having that problem! And so now, if I have a little bit of funky milk at the bottom of the jug, I fill it up with water and take it straight to my tomato plants.
And what if I don’t have tomato plants?
Borrowing a line from this article in Bon Appetit: “The first step to using up the expired milk is to reconsider it.
Just for kicks – google “Sour Milk Recipes,” and see how many multi-star recipes come up! Would you consider to use sour milk in a recipe?
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