In the United States, 30 to 40 percent of the food supply becomes waste, according to the USDA. Food waste takes a toll on the environment, affects consumer pricing and plagues policy makers as a consistent challenge.

But professional and home chefs alike are working to limit effects where they can. One simple solution: knowing the tremendous potential of ignored ingredients, whether that be leftovers or forgotten cans.

“There are so many foods [where] the first thing you need to do to make them is not have thrown the ingredients away by mistake,” says Tamar Adler, James Beard award-winning chef and author of “The Everlasting Meal Cookbook, Leftovers From A-Z.”

Adler’s ideas on thoughtful cooking are pertinent: A new study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that ultra-processed foods make up a rising majority of the 21st-century American diet, posing both health and food-waste challenges. While whole foods — such as entire fish or fresh-grown vegetables — allow for every part of a plant or animal to be used, already-prepared items often waste bones, seeds, stems and more.

The resulting mass of food waste accumulates into a dump of increased methane emissions, notes Anne-Marie Bonneau, author of “The Zero-Waste Chef: Plant-Forward Recipes and Tips for a Sustainable Kitchen and Planet.”

“When you read the news about climate change, it’s overwhelming, and you wonder, ‘What can I do?’” Bonneau says. She adds that reducing food waste costs nothing at all.

There is another simpler benefit to low-waste cooking: the joy of discovering new recipes. Bonneau receives pictures of various soups from her excited cookbook readers, while Adler receives messages highlighting pesto made of preserved carrot tops from her fans. There is a buzz for recipes that find delight in what chefs never knew they could use.

Solutions for food waste are hidden in the back of cabinets, as well. For a variety of canned beans, cooking with a variety of spices and styles can transform dull textures into bright flavors. The extra sauce at the bottom of bottles can be preserved and mixed with other ingredients to make new dips, too.

Much of the chef-led, low-waste recipe momentum recycles an old adage: “Use what you have.” In an age of increased grocery prices and heightened emissions from food waste, Adler asserts that the phrase isn’t just true — it’s optimistic.

“‘What can I do with what I have?’ is the most interesting, most generative, most environmental, and most exciting culinary question anyone could ever ask,” Adler says.

Guests

  • Tamar Adler, James Beard award-winning chef and food writer, author of “The Everlasting Meal Cookbook, Leftovers From A-Z” and “An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace.”
  • Anne-Marie Bonneau, author of “The Zero-Waste Chef: Plant-Forward Recipes and Tips for a Sustainable Kitchen and Planet”