Did you know that a large portion of perfectly good food gets wasted before it ever gets the chance to be consumed? An estimated 30%-40% of the American food supply is pitched into landfills. This alarming statistic triggered vegan cookbook author and founder and CEO of PlantYou Carleigh Bodrug to act, doing what she does best. She created a simple kitchen hack video showing people how to make something edible from something normally tossed in the garbage—a fruit peel.
“I [posted] an orange peel candy recipe one day, called it ‘Scrappy Cooking’ and just could not believe the response,” Bodrug says. “People were so excited about this prospect of reducing food waste in their home and using commonly wasted food to make recipes, and I knew immediately that it would be a good concept for a cookbook.” She was right. Her book Scrappy Cooking: 140+ Plant-Based Zero-Waste Recipes That Are Good For You, Your Wallet, and the Planet, which teaches readers how to be savvy with ingredients that are already stocked in their kitchen, reduce food waste, eat well and save money, quickly hit No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. “If I can make it, I promise that you can, too, because nothing’s fancy or complicated,” Bodrug says.
Transformation starts in the kitchen
While many people might assume grocery stores and restaurants are the perpetrators creating the bulk of the food waste, Bodrug cautions that’s not the case. According to the 2024 Food Waste Index Report, most of it stems from households.
“If we’re pitching almost 30% [of food] on average, $1,700 per family of four in the United States, it’s nonsensical,” Bodrug says. “I think it’s because we’re so busy, right? We’re in a society where we’re go, go, go. We’re all working really hectic jobs. We’re heading to the grocery store with no plan, buying food. It spoils quickly. Unfortunately, we waste a lot of food. But we can’t afford to, from both an environmental and a financial perspective.”
A recipe for big impact
Preventing food waste isn’t just about saving money; it’s also about helping our planet. This type of waste accounts for approximately 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to United Nations data. When food decomposes anaerobically in landfills, it produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Decreasing food waste at home can significantly cut these emissions. While airline emissions often make headlines, Bodrug emphasizes that real change can begin at home. Additionally, wasting less food conserves resources—such as water, energy and land—used in food production.
“When I was writing Scrappy Cooking, I didn’t want it to be this encyclopedia of just extremely scrappy things like banana peel bacon or how to use your coffee grounds and granola,” Bodrug says. “We have all of that in the book, but the foundational recipes are staples that I hope people can interchange—the produce and protein items in the recipes—because this is how I personally cook and reduce waste in my home.” With over 7 million followers across her social platforms, Bodrug’s influence holds the potential to create lasting change. Her Scrappy Cooking series has landed her features on the Rachael Ray Show, Good Morning America and more. By highlighting this important issue and offering practical tips, Bodrug can help people reduce food waste at home, save money and boost their mental and physical well-being.
The intention, she says, is for readers to make the recipes using the food that’s already available rather than having to run to the grocery store every time they’re making a new recipe. “I want to really empower people to cook because I feel like it’s a lost art to learn how to cook and be confident enough to make these swaps in their home,” she says. Bodrug notes that bread is the most commonly wasted food in the world. When it toughens, she recommends blending it into breadcrumbs seasoned for added flavor, rehydrating it with coconut milk for French toast casserole or making croutons for a panzanella salad.
Placing a tall order
While fighting food waste might feel like a glass-half-empty endeavor, Bodrug isn’t one to shy away from adversity. She’s used to carving her own path and describes herself as a “self-taught cook,” having learned about nutrition and health through her own well-being pilgrimage.
In 2015, when the World Health Organization classified red meat as group 1 and group 2 carcinogens, Canadian-born Bodrug was struck by how this completely contradicted the dietary recommendations of her country’s government and that of the United States. At the same time, her father was a stage 2 colon cancer survivor. Backed with a bachelor’s degree in media theory and journalism, Bodrug dove into researching the science behind healthy food choices and found indisputable evidence that the best path to health and longevity promoted eating a whole-food, plant-based lifestyle.
Compelled to embrace veganism wholeheartedly, she faced two major obstacles. Bodrug had never eaten a plant-based meal in her life and didn’t know how to cook. Undeterred, she started an Instagram page and blog to document her journey. Her simple, delicious recipes and nonjudgmental approach quickly attracted millions of followers, which led to her first cookbook, a New York Times bestseller, PlantYou: 140+ Ridiculously Easy, Amazingly Delicious, Plant-Based, Oil-Free Recipes.
Eight years into eating primarily plant-predominant meals, Bodrug says she feels great. “I think fueling our vessel with healthy food is just going to benefit you to do whatever you want in life and then additionally help you save money, reduce waste and be a healthier human being,” she says.
To reduce food waste in your kitchen and save money, Bodrug suggests following these practical tips:
1. Be more intentional by planning your meals ahead.
Spend an hour on the weekend to decide what you’ll eat for the week and consider using dinner leftovers for lunch. “The lowest hanging fruit to reduce your food waste is never bringing the food into your home in the first place,” Bodrug says.
2. Shop your fridge and pantry before you fill your cart.
Take stock of what you have so you only buy what you need. This can stop you from overbuying and letting perishable items go bad.
3. Take advantage of your freezer.
Is your spinach wilting or are your bananas browning? Use your freezer. Bodrug advises not to limit yourself to fresh produce; frozen fruits and vegetables are just as healthy, if not better, as they’re frozen at peak ripeness. Buying frozen can also save money.
4. Understand packaging dates.
“Best-before” dates in North America often lead to unnecessary food waste. According to Bodrug, these dates indicate peak quality, not expiration. Instead of discarding food right after this date, rely on your senses. If it looks, smells, feels off or shows signs of mold, compost it.
5. Think twice before you toss.
“Twenty-five of the recipes in the book are earmarked as kitchen raid recipes,” Bodrug says, where you can run a quick scavenger hunt for about-to-spoil items to toss in. The book also includes a handy “Got This, Make That” index.
This article originally appeared in the March 2025 issue of SUCCESS+ digital magazine. Photo courtesy of Carleigh Bodrug.
