Log into your account

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Our Food
  • How It Works
  • Food Waste
Get started for free
  • Tips & Guides
  • Recipes
  • Featured Food
  • Food Waste Movement
  • About Imperfect
Not a member yet?
Get started for free
Log into your account
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Our Food
  • How It Works
  • Food Waste
  • Blog
  • Tips & Guides
  • Recipes
  • Featured Food
  • About Imperfect
  • Food Waste Movement
  • Sign Up
  • FAQs
  • Impact
  • Refer a Friend
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
Food Waste Movement

5 Lessons from the Unwasted Podcast so far

We recently launched the Unwasted Podcast, where we sit down with a different expert to learn about their unique story and discuss ideas for how to make the world a less wasteful place. The experience lets us explore topics that matter to our company in depth, gives us a new way to share knowledge with our community, and always teaches us something new! Here are five things that we learned from our first two podcast guests.

1. Sometimes the most sustainable decision you can make is to say no.

In our first episode of the Unwasted Podcast, Davida Lederle of the Healthy Maven shared the insightful perspective that what we say yes to often determines how much waste we create in our lives. So whether it means just buying what you need at the grocery store, politely declining a gift bag, or choosing to avoid things that come in plastic packaging, the art of saying no to unnecessary purchases is central to living in a less wasteful life. It has the lovely side effect of making you happier with the things you choose to buy, too!

2. Save your corn cobs and cook with them.

Chef and TV host Joel Gamoran knows a thing or two about cooking with scraps and our conversation with him made us inspired to re-think the odds and ends that we often compost instead of eating. Joel’s biggest case-in-point: corn cobs! These humble stalks are actually an overlooked super-ingredient and Joel taught us that all it takes is a quick simmer in some water to turn our previously-discarded cobs into a sweet and delicious corn stock that can be the base of a soup, chowder, or risotto.

3. We need more people doing zero waste imperfectly.

Davida reminded us that when it comes to sustainability (or anything important in life), it’s better to start doing something imperfectly than it is to wait, plan, and hope for a day when you can somehow do everything perfectly. Action matters a lot more than endless analysis and debate, especially when the environment and our health are concerned. She emphasized how an underrated part of living sustainably is being patient and cutting yourself some slack. Problems as big as food waste and climate change need a lot of people taking action, learning from their mistakes, and then finding ways to do more. The first and most important step may actually be letting go of the idea that you’ll do it perfectly at first.

4. Banana peels are misunderstood.

Banana peels are literally portrayed as an accident in waiting or some sort of trashy punchline in a children’s cartoons, but these yellow wrappers are surprisingly delicious according to Joel. After getting inspired by a few Indian recipes he loved, he started turning his banana peels into an awesome chutney. He also turns his bruised bananas into delicious homemade ice cream!

5. Don’t be afraid of heat and salt.

When we asked Joel for what he thinks home cooks should be using more of, he was quick to respond with two words: heat and salt. He explained that home cooks often cook at too low of a heat to develop the savory, browned flavors they love in restaurant dishes, and that home cooks are similarly timid with salt, despite the fact that using salt properly makes food taste more like itself. To anyone looking to up their game in the kitchen, Joel recommended that rethinking how you apply heat and season your food is an important place to start. Want to see what he means? Check out his burnt honey apple tart recipe!

If you liked these tips and are feeling hungry for more, we hope you’ll check out the Unwasted Podcast. If you do, we’d really appreciate it if you would rate and review it wherever you listen to podcasts. Telling your friends never hurts either. Thanks for your support!

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

guest

0 Comments
Oldest
Newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Tagged Unwasted podcast

You might find these a-peel-ing

Producer spotlights
From Seed to Table: The Story ...
The first time we talked with Michael Bosworth about bringing his barely broken ...
Read more
Combatting climate change
How We Calculate Our Environme...
See what goes into calculating our environmental impact stats and learn what you...
Read more
DEI
4 Ways to Celebrate AAPI Herit...
It’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and we’re excited to cel...
Read more
Company history
We’re Going the Ripe Dir...
We started Imperfect Foods to save ugly produce from going to waste. It felt wro...
Read more
Producer spotlights
Creatively preventing waste wi...
Learn how buying ugly produce helps make family farming more sustainable.
Read more
Back to Food Waste Movement

Want olive the latest?

Sign up for emails to stay up to date.

ImperfectFoods Logo
B Certificate Logo
  • Sign Up
  • FAQs
  • Impact
  • Refer a Friend
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
Download on the App Store Badge Download on the Google App Badge
Imperfect Foods © 2025. All Rights Reserved
Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell My Personal Information