I think the fact that we have collectively stepped out of the kitchen to a certain extent, and entrusted the food industry with a good portion of our meals, means that we've lost some of those traditional foodways.

Like re-purposing leftovers, preserving foods and even knowing when foods have actually gone bad. Author Jonathan Bloom says all these issues have contributed to startling food waste statistics... like, Americans waste 20 pounds of food per person per month.

Today and next week, we'll be dedicating Earth Eats to a discussion about food waste and what we can do about it.

Harvest Public Media brings us two stories, one from a farm and another from inside a family's kitchen.

And instead of tossing them in the compost heap, Chef Daniel Orr uses gnarly apples and a lonely pumpkin in two recipes.

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